Skip to content
Ep. 139 Aground & Dead Calm episode artwork

Jan 2, 2024 1 hr 41 min

Ep. 139 Aground & Dead Calm

from The Pink Smoke podcast Hosted by The Pink Smoke

All episodes are made available to Patreon subscribers, the most tender and violent of all audiences, one week before their general release. Support our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke 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"

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Ep. 139 Aground & Dead Calm

0:00 1:41:18

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Pink Smoke podcast?

This episode is 1 hour and 41 minutes long.

When was this The Pink Smoke podcast episode published?

This episode was published on January 2, 2024.

Can I download this The Pink Smoke podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.