Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles: In A Lonely Place July 16, 2011

WHAT: Esotouric's "Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles: In A Lonely Place" bus tour
WHEN: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 12-4pm
WHERE: Tour departs from Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014
COST: $58/person, includes complementary noir-themed gelato from Scoops
SAVE: Through June 27, take advantage of Esotouric's Anniversary Sale (celebrating the 5th wedding anniversary of Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave) with a two-person Pair Pass for $88.88, regular price $116. Info http://esotouric.com/anniversarysale
MORE INFO: visit http://www.esotouric.com or call 323-223-2767

LOS ANGELES- In July, Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal L.A.'s secret history, offers a bus tour dedicated to the city's greatest detective novelist, Raymond Chandler, from the downtown streets he roamed as a young oil executive to his uniquely poisonous portrayal of the city's hustlers, heavies and suckers. The tour reveals the secret historic city that still breathes under our modern streets, and offers unexpected insight into the life and work of a beloved writer and his immortal white knight detective hero Philip Marlowe.

And for a very limited time, save on the Raymond Chandler tour, or any regularly scheduled $58 Esotouric bus adventure, when you snap up an Anniversary Sale Pair Pass, a special ticket good for any two people who love each other to ride together for $88.88, regular price $116. The Anniversary Sale continues through June 27, and celebrates the 5th wedding anniversary of Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave. For more info, or to purchase, visit http://esotouric.com/anniversarysale

In the spirit of the lasting power of love, Esotouric recently took a road trip to San Diego to attend the moving Valentine's Day ceremony in which the ashes of Raymond Chandler's wife Cissy (died 1954) were finally placed in his (died 1959) grave, as both had intended. In keeping with their pledge to share interesting Los Angeles lore on their tour bus and online, video and photos from the ceremony have been posted at the Esotouric blog: http://www.esotouric.com/chandlergrave

And just to show that Chandler scholarship continues to evolve 52 years after his death, Esotouric's Raymond Chandler tour features a startling new theory developed through Esotouric's original research. Get on the bus to learn all about the idealistic Los Angeles policeman whose one-man crusade against the evils of his own department is among the most convincing cases for a real life prototype of the Philip Marlowe character ever proposed. And you won't hear about him in any of the Chandler biographies, but only on the Esotouric bus.

For more original Raymond Chandler research uncovered by Esotouric, see the blog post "Raymond Chandler and the Creamery" about the criminal happenings the young writer might have witnessed at his first job in Los Angeles, at the link below.
http://www.esotouric.com/chandlerandthecreamery

ABOUT THE TOUR:

RAYMOND CHANDLER'S LOS ANGELES: IN A LONELY PLACE delves deep into a lost city that exists in shadowy parallels to contemporary LA. Bungalows. Crime. Hollywood. Blondes. Vets. Smog. Death. This was Raymond Chandler’s city, which resonated from deft and melancholy fits of his writer’s bow. Join Esotouric on an exploration of the city that shaped Chandler's fiction, and that in turn shaped his hard-boiled times, in a four hour tour of downtown, Hollywood and surrounding environs: Musso & Frank, Union Station, the Hotel Van Nuys, Paramount Studio’s gates, and beyond. Through published work, private correspondence, screenplays and film adaptations, the tour traces Chandler’s search for meaning and his anti-hero Philip Marlowe’s struggle to not be pigeonholed or give anything less than all he has, which lead them both down the rabbit hole of isolation, depression, and drink.

Get on the bus for a revealing time travel journey into the literary history of Los Angeles, and discover the places and people who inspired Raymond Chandler's timeless novels, screenplays and stories. And as a special treat, the tour's complementary snack break features a selection of noir-themed gelato flavors from the creative kitchen of Tai Kim's Scoops, the most interesting and acclaimed ice cream shop in Los Angeles. Scoops doesn't announce the featured flavors in advance, but Chandleresque offerings on past tours have have included Coffee/Jack Daniels, Bacon/Caramel, Guinness/Chocolate and even Nicotine (made with Nicorette gum)!

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com
Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sun June 26 - LAVA's free Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat July 9 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour (SOLD OUT)
Sat July 16 - Raymond Chandler's L.A.
Sat July 30 - Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
Sun July 31 - LAVA's free Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat August 6 - Reyner Banham Loves L.A.: Route 66
Sun August 7 - Reyner Banham Loves L.A.: South L.A.
Sat August 20 - Charles Bukowski's L.A.: Haunts of a Dirty Old Man
Sat August 27 - Reyner Banham Loves L.A.: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun August 28 - LAVA's free Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Sept 10 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 24 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
Sun Sept 25 - LAVA's free Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)

Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

Official Website: http://www.esotouric.com/chandler