On the west side of La Cienega Blvd. just north of Beverly Blvd. is a serious Hollywood-style lingerie shop , and across the street is a strip club. I’ve never been inside either of these places and I’ve lived less than four blocks away for the last 15 years. And I haven’t bought a drink at the nearby Coronet Pub in two or three years. But there’s something almost luscious in the late 1950’s seediness represented by these three business establishments. The spirit of Elmore Leonard swirls in and out of their beams and doorframes and floor varnishings. They’re not exactly the L.A. equivalent of the River Oaks theatre, but they’re not far from that.
