LA Noir cocktail hour and Dragnet history lesson September 18, 2009

Join Esotouric and "L.A. Noir" author John Buntin for an intimate exploration of "Dragnet"-era Los Angeles

WHAT: A reading from new book "L.A. Noir," followed by vintage film/tv clips, cocktails, and conversation
WHEN: Friday September 18, 6pm-8pm, Morton's The Steakhouse, 735 S Figueroa St., downtown L.A.
COST: Free!
MORE INFO: visit http://www.esotouric.com/lanoir or call 323-223-2767
RELATED BUS TOURS: Esotouric's Noir September series includes "The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare" on 9/12 and "John Buntin's L.A. Noir" on 9/19
LOS ANGELES, CA, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 -- Other cities have histories. Los Angeles has legends. For more than sixty years, writers and directors from Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder to Roman Polanski and James Ellroy have explored L.A.'s origins, its underbelly, and (yes) its blondes in fiction and films like "The Big Sleep," "Double Indemnity," "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential." Yet this preoccupation with a mythic past has obscured something important — the true history of noir Los Angeles.

In his new book, "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City" (Crown/Harmony), John Buntin explores the rivalry between two men who shaped Los Angeles — mobster Mickey Cohen and "Dragnet"-era LAPD chief William H. Parker III. Novelist Michael Connelly calls "L.A. Noir" "fascinating, flat out entertaining." "'Dragnet,' 'Adam-12,' 'Police Story,' 'L.A. Confidential' all rolled into one captivating book," says LAPD Chief Bill Bratton.

Join author John Buntin and Esotouric co-founders Richard Schave and Kim Cooper for an evening of exploration, as Buntin reads from his book and gives an introduction to Jack Webb's "Dragnet," the radio, television and marketing phenomenon that transformed the LAPD into America's most fabled police department.

Morton's the Steakhouse welcomes "L.A. Noir" fans by extending the hours of their Happy Hour menu until 8pm and providing a private screening room for the gathering, which will also spill out into the bar.

In a luxurious setting just a few blocks away from the neighborhood where star Jack Webb was raised, Buntin will explain how the camp of the "Pat Novak for Hire" radio drama (1946-47) became the verité of the 1950s "Dragnet." We'll screen a clip from a film that inspired "Dragnet," watch the fabled opening of the "Dragnet" pilot, and explore how Chief Parker used the show to bolster the department. Dames, dynamite, and "Dragnet" — what better way to pass a Friday night!

Additional John Buntin author events include:

September 15, 7pm - Vroman's,
695 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101, (626) 449-5320, http://www.vromansbookstore.com
September 16th, 7pm - EsoWon Books,
4331 Degnan Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90008,
(323) 290-1048
September 17th, 7pm - Barnes & Noble,
Third Street Promenade and Arizona,
Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 260-9110
September 19th, 12pm - Esotouric presents "John Buntin's L.A. Noir" bus tour, info http://www.esotouric.com/lanoir
September 21, 7:30pm - Writers Bloc, Writers Guild Theater, 135 S. Doheny, Beverly Hills, CA, http://www.writersblocpresents.com/events/events.htm

Esotouric's Fall schedule: The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare (Sat Sept 12), John Buntin's L.A. Noir (Sat Sept 19), Wild Wild West Side (Sat Oct 10), Raymond Chandler's Bay City (Sat Oct 17), Maja's Mysteries spritual LA tour (Sat Oct 31), East Side Babylon crime bus tour tour (Sun Nov 1), Charles Bukowski's L.A. (Sat Nov 7), The Real Black Dahlia (Sat Nov 14), Pasadena Confidential (Sat Dec 5), Blood & Dumplings (Sat Dec 12)

ABOUT ESOTOURIC: Founded in 2007 by newlyweds Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, the company quickly cornered the market on offbeat true crime history tours and highbrow literary and architectural explorations. From their "Real Black Dahlia" tour ("an L.A. classic" -- Los Angeles Times) to "Raymond Chandler's L.A.," sold-out personal history tours guest hosted by James Ellroy to alternative neighborhood guides like "Pasadena Confidential," Esotouric's weekly bus adventure has become a must for locals seeking to know their city better, and a lucky find for savvy travelers.

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