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New Todd Moore Book Released by St. Vitus

06/20/2011
Theron Moore here.  I wanted to announce the release of the first book I've compiled and edited of my father's writing -- Gangsters, Harlots and Thieves: Down and Out at the Hotel Clifton.


It's a bio / memoir of my father's experience growing up in post depression America at the down and out Hotel Clifton in Freeport, Illinois and his experiences interacting with the various gangsters, harlots and thieves that were apart of his life back then.

This is a book that my father and I had talked about doing a few years ago but for whatever reason never got done, and it was something that was very near and dear to me thatI felt needed to be published.  When it was all said and done it turned out to be a really unique and compelling document of his childhood told by him to you through his essays and poetry.

To add a little bit of extra flavor, not to mention adding some extra depth and dimension to his story, I also added commentary throughout the book by myself, my brother and my aunt Nancy to offer a little more insight into my father, what it was like from my aunt's perspective living at the Hotel Clifton, etc.

We also get a glimpse into what exactly his relationship was like with his father, how the outlaw portion of his personality was developed while living at the Hotel Clifton, and what piqued his interest as a kid to want to become a writer.  My father talked about these things somewhat sporadically over the years in various interviews, etc., but it's never been compiled and documented in print to the degree it is in this book.

Gangsters, Harlots & Thieves is also my father's first publication to be published under the banner of  "road/house – Saint Vitus Press." More titles will be announced later and will include publishing ALL of my father's Dillinger poems and essays at a future date.



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