Ep. 139 Aground & Dead Calm

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Hosts Christopher Funderburg & John Cribbs are joined by
filmmaker & pulp paperback aficionado Steven Sheil to discuss
semi-legendary, semi-forgotten crime fiction author Charles K.
Williams. The group looks at a pair of nautical thrillers, Aground
& its sequel Dead Calm (most famously adapted into the Billy
Zane/Sam Neil classic (& also unsuccessfully adapted in yet
another Orson Welles production debacle.)) Following the story of a
no-nonsense charter boat captain & the charming, irrepressible
widow he falls for, the aesthetic/philosophical difference between
the books represents the shift happening in pulp crime in fiction
of the era: the move from classic hardboiled, masculine stories to
psychological thrillers concerned with the inner lives of
criminals. It's a fantastic conversation about one of the most
successful crime writers of his era, an author undeserving of his
slow fade into obscurity. The Pink Smoke site: www.thepinksmoke.com
Steven Sheil on X: https://twitter.com/SSheil The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea
for Two” Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"