Explore Bukowski’s dirty old Los Angeles haunts with Esotouric

Reading the December issue of Conde Nast Traveler, I came across the article “Great value vacations: Three cities steeped in literary tradition,” with tips and attractions for travelers interested in literary-focused venturing. For good reason, Berlin, Boston and Dublin are the culturally bountiful trio featured in the article.

But did you know that our fair Los Angeles also has a few literary veins running through it? Yes, indeed. There was Chicago-born Raymond Chandler, who lived a number of his adult years in L.A., where he worked various jobs and eventually wrote novels and screenplays. And then there was the lesser known but — among certain circles — very influential John Fante, writer of “Ask the Dust,” whom a Salon reviewer called “the quintessential L.A. writer.”

And then, there was Charles Bukowski, the “Poet Laureate of Skid Row.” Whether you regard his works with adoration or distaste, this boozing cult icon lived in L.A., wrote about L.A. and lived and breathed the city, seediness and all, with intensity.

The curious can get a glimpse of his personal story amid a local setting with the tour bus company Esotouric. For its upcoming “Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles,” the focus will be on Bukowski’s “great passions” and will take in some of the author’s frequented locales, such as skid row, his erstwhile apartment, the mail annex that served as inspiration for his 1971 novel “Post Office,” his go-to bar, and his favorite liquor store — the Pink Elephant in Hollywood.

When: Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, noon-4 p.m.

Cost: $58 per person

Contact: Esotouric, (310) 995-4591

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Reading Bukowski; credit: Alexis_Deadly on Flickr]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 5:05 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Arts & Culture, California, Los Angeles, Tours & Cruises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.