Usually something in regards to martial arts is posted on this website, but let’s take a left turn and drive down another street for a moment. A new term I’ve come to know is Urban Archaeology: the study of older buildings in large cities. How best to tell the story about a building? By telling the stories of those who lived in it. The History of The Barclay Hotel: A Collection of True Short Stories Both Epic and Tragic is a new book by J.M. Moore (in full transparency, she’s my cousin) that studies the famous 120-year old Los Angeles hotel, home to suicides, murders, questionable deaths, and so many more awesome stories of the tenants and visitors that made the Barclay Hotel famous…and infamous.

The book itself is starting to make waves, and there are rumors of a possible (?) TV series or film (what isn’t turned into a film nowadays?) but the book itself is getting excellent reviews. You can read LA Weekly’s review here. J.M. Moore also did a radio interview on NPR on 6/08/16, which you can listen to here.

The book is available in paperback, which you can purchase here, and on Amazon Kindle as well as Barnes & Noble Nook Book.

 

Check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

 

Now I’m going back to martial arts. But I may detour down another street soon, where some older Japanese gangster films exist…

 

Michael S. Moore

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