Esotouric offers look at the "real Philip Marlowe"

Raymond Chandler Bus Tour Reveals Startling New "Real Philip Marlowe" Theory

WHAT: Esotouric's "Raymond Chandler's Bay City" bus tour

WHEN: Saturday April 11, 12pm-4pm

WHERE: Departs from outside the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Culver City

COST: $58/person including coffee and snacks

MORE INFO: visit http://www.esotouric.com or call 323-223-2767

On April 11, Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal L.A.'s secret history, offers a rare west side tour dedicated to the city's greatest detective novelist, Raymond Chandler.

RAYMOND CHANDLER'S BAY CITY, a companion to the Downtown/Hollywood tour RAYMOND CHANDLER'S LA (next scheduled on April 25). Get on the bus to experience Chandler's uniquely poisonous portrayal of Santa Monica (AKA Bay City) for a tour exploring the secret historic spots that still survive in the modern city, and offering insight into the life and work of a beloved writer.

And just to show that Chandler scholarship continues to evolve 50 years after his death, the April 11 tour includes the startling new theory developed by Esotouric's Richard Schave and Kim Cooper. Passengers will be introduced to an idealistic local 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.

ABOUT THE TOUR: RAYMOND CHANDLER'S BAY CITY was crook town, run down, shabby town, gambling town. Chandler naturally gravitated to sin and debauch, so sleazy Santa Monica was a frequent stop for Philip Marlowe. This tour has it all, from doctors feelgood to second wives with pasts to crooked cops with a loathing for a mouthy PI. Chandler's canonization of sin, wealth and sunshine on L.A.'s west side fed the abiding myths of the American hard-boiled genre and play into the popular conceptions of the community.

Focusing on Chandler's middle period ­ "Farewell My Lovely," "Lady in the Lake" and a few short stories upon which these novels are built, "Bay City Blues" among them-- this four hour bus tour will explore Chandler's take on the real life rackets and murders which gave Bay City its wild reputation, and the elements of the old community that have survived layer upon layer of gentrification. Featured stops include the Thelma Todd death cafe, historic homes rented by Raymond and Cissy Chandler, the Miramar Hotel and other scenes associated with Chandler's life and work. This tour also features the unveiling of Esotouric's exciting new real-life Marlowe theory.

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.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule:
Sat March 21 ­ Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat March 28 ­ Pasadena Confidential
Sat April 4 - Wild Wild Westside
Thurs April 9 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat April 11 - Raymond Chandler's Bay City
Sat April 18 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat April 25 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat May 2 - Blood & Dumplings
Thurs May 14 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat May 16 - Weird West Adams
Sat May 23 - Pasadena Confidential
Sat May 30 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's SoCal Nightmare
Sun June 7 - South LA architecture tour
Thurs June 11 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat June 13 - Vroman's edition: Blood & Dumplings
Sat June 20 - Route 66 architecture tour

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com