Marcopocast: The Frank Marcopolos Podcast, with Frank Marcopolos

You are listening to Saturday Show Podcast, episode number 111. My name is Frank Marcopolos. I am the author of the novel ALMOST HOME, the short story collection INFINITE ENDING, and the novelettes A CAR CRASH OF SORTS, and WOMYN DO: THE HEALING OF JOHNNY REBEL, all available on Amazon. I am also the former editor and publisher of the respected literary zine, THE WHIRLIGIG. You can find me on twitter, YouTube, or FrankMarcopolos.com, where this podcast feed stems from. It is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play Music. On this episode of the podcast, we will do an analysis of the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. This story is in the public domain, and the text is available online. In addition, I have performed an audiobook version of the story which is available on this podcast feed as well as on YouTube, at my channel, http://youtube.com/brooklynfrank. Quoting Wikipedia now on the basic background of the author: Kate Chopin, born Katherine O’Flaherty (February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904), was a U.S. author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of the feminist authors of the 20th century of Southern or Catholic background, such as Zelda Fitzgerald. From 1892 to 1895, she wrote short stories for both children and adults that were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century Magazine, and The Youth’s Companion. Her major works were two short story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Her important short stories included “Désirée’s Baby,” a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana (published in 1893),[1] “The Story of an Hour” (1894),[2] and “The Storm”(1898).[1] “The Storm” is a sequel to “The ‘Cadian Ball,” which appeared in her first collection of short stories, Bayou Folk.[1] Chopin also wrote two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening(1899), which are set in New Orleans and Grand Isle, respectively. The characters in her stories are usually inhabitants of Louisiana. Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time.[3] In 1915, Fred Lewis Pattee wrote, “some of [Chopin’s] work is equal to the best that has been produced in France or even in America. [She displayed] what may be described as a native aptitude for narration amounting almost to genius.”

This is an audiobook performance of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. We will be analyzing this story on the next podcast. From Wikipedia: Kate Chopin, born Katherine O’Flaherty (February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904), was a U.S. author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of the feminist authors of the 20th century of Southern or Catholic background, such as Zelda Fitzgerald. From 1892 to 1895, she wrote short stories for both children and adults that were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century Magazine, and The Youth’s Companion. Her major works were two short story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Her important short stories included “Désirée’s Baby,” a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana (published in 1893), “The Story of an Hour” (1894), and “The Storm”(1898).[1] “The Storm” is a sequel to “The ‘Cadian Ball,” which appeared in her first collection of short stories, Bayou Folk. Chopin also wrote two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899), which are set in New Orleans and Grand Isle, respectively. The characters in her stories are usually inhabitants of Louisiana. Many of her works are set in Natchitoches in north central Louisiana. Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time. In 1915, Fred Lewis Pattee wrote, “some of [Chopin’s] work is equal to the best that has been produced in France or even in America. [She displayed] what may be described as a native aptitude for narration amounting almost to genius.”

You are listening to “Saturday Show Literary Podcast,” a podcast about writing, literature, philosophy, and—well—life. The podcast feed stems from FrankMarcopolos.com, and is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, or any podcatcher app. This episode features a live recording of a meeting of the Austin Writing Workshop, which is a graduate-level fiction-writing workshop led by a former professor of literature and philosophy at Texas State University. Writers in the Austin area can join the workshop via meetup.com. My name is Frank “Zeus” Marcopolos, and I am the author of the novel ALMOST HOME, the short story collection INFINITE ENDING, and the recently released WOMYN DO: THE HEALING OF JOHNNY R3BEL. I am also the former editor and publisher of the respected literary magazine, THE WHIRLIGIG. All of these things are available on Amazon and all of the online places. I am also active on YouTube and Twitter, so come and say hello. The story that will be discussed by the members of the workshop is “GOOD PEOPLE” by David Foster Wallace. However, please keep in mind that for strategic reasons, the members do not know the author or story title while critiquing it. “Good People” by David Foster Wallace was published in the New Yorker magazine on February 5, 2007. David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American author of novels, short stories and essays, as well as a professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, which was cited by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. Wallace’s last, unfinished novel, The Pale King, was published in 2011 and was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. A biography of Wallace was published in September 2012, and an extensive critical literature on his work has developed in the past decade. Los Angeles Times book editor David Ulin has called Wallace “one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years. On a personal note, I have to say that I apologize for the arrogance of the leader of this group and his opinions on this particular story. Rest assured, they do not reflect my own. Regarding this podcast, this episode will be the last one with this format where I have recorded the meeting of the Austin Writing Workshop. Moving forward, we will still be doing literary criticism, however, we’ll be doing it in a different way. That being said, ENJOY “Saturday Show Literary Podcast #109: Good People by David Foster Wallace” ….

This is the retail sample of a new ebook and audiobook entitled, “Womyn Do: The Healing of JOHNNY R3BEL” by Frank “Zeus” Marcopolos. The complete unabridged edition is available here: on Amazon.

This is a short lecture on resonance and theme in literary fiction by the leader of the Austin Writing Workshop, a former professor of literature and philosophy at Texas State University.

[NOTE: “Ice Cold” by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/] * This is “Saturday Show Literary Podcast,” a podcast about writing, literature, philosophy, and—well—life. The podcast feed stems from FrankMarcopolos.com, and is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, or any podcatcher app. It is also usually available subsequently on YouTube. This episode features a live recording of a meeting of the Austin Writing Workshop, which is a graduate-level fiction-writing workshop led by a former professor of literature and philosophy at Texas State University. Writers in the Austin area can join the workshop via meetup.com. My name is Frank “Zeus” Marcopolos, and I am the author of the novel ALMOST HOME, the short story collection INFINITE ENDING, and the recently released WOMYN DO: THE HEALING OF JOHNNY R3BEL. I am also the former editor and publisher of the respected literary magazine, THE WHIRLIGIG. The story that will be discussed by the members of the workshop is “PRETTY ICE” by “MARY ROBISON.” However, the members do not know the author or story title while critiquing it. “Pretty Ice” was published in 1979 by The New Yorker Magazine. According to Wikipedia, Mary Robison has published four collections of stories, and four novels, including her 2001 novel Why Did I Ever, winner of the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction. Her most recent novel, released in 2009, is One D.O.A., One on the Way. She has been categorized as a founding “minimalist” writer along with authors such as Amy Hempel, Frederick Barthelme, and Raymond Carver. In 2009, she won the Rea Award for the Short Story. ENJOY “Saturday Show Literary Podcast #107: Pretty Ice by Mary Robison!”

“It’s God…and then Ayn Rand.” Members of the Austin Writing Workshop conduct a roundtable, free-form discussion of literary and philosophical topics. The first part of the podcast covers the movie “As Good as It Gets” starring Helen Hunt, Jack Nicholson, and Greg Kinnear. The second part of the podcast covers the essay “The Objectivist Ethics” by Ayn Rand. The third part covers Raymond Carver’s “Fat,” literary techniques (including irony), the movie “Edward Scissorhands,” and other arty topics. People are chomping on food and there are weird background noises the whole time, too, so if that bugs you (as much as it does me) then skip this one. *** Links you can click: Website Zeus’s Books on Audible.com – FUN! YouTube Channel Twitter Books You Can Buy

Donald Barthelme (April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989) was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, was managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston (1961–1962), co-founder of Fiction (with Mark Mirsky and the assistance of Max and Marianne Frisch), and a professor at various universities. He also was one of the original founders of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. YouTube'd version below:

Group discussion by the Austin Writing Workshop about the short story “Referential” by Lorrie Moore. You can read the story before listening (and you should) by clicking here. The Austin Writing Workshop is led by a former professor of literature at Texas State University (with an MFA, of course), and a self-published author with a BA in Literature (who is considering applying to schools to get his MFA.)

In this episode of the podcast we discuss “How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)” by Lorrie Moore, “Fixation of Belief” by philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and other high-minded topics because we’re snobs like that. Text of the Lorrie Moore short story can be found by clicking here: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/issues/stories-week-2009-2010/how-talk-your-mother “Fixation of Belief” by Charles Sanders Peirce is discussed in great detail by Avery Archer here: http://thespaceofreasons.blogspot.com/2012/05/outline-of-peirces-fixation-of-belief.html YOU can join the Austin Writing Workshop (Austin-area writers only, please) by clicking here: http://www.meetup.com/real-writers *** Some of the writers mentioned in the podcast with links to some of their better works are listed below: Lorrie Moore Richard Ford Raymond Carver Ernest Hemingway Alice Munro Vladimir Nabokov Margaret Atwood

Surrounded by pit bulls, rattlesnakes, and mountain lions, the leather-jacketed renegades of the Austin Writing Workshop met to discuss the knife-blade vitality of art, literature, and philosophy, specifically the short story “Pet Milk” by Stuart Dybek and other kinds of narratives and forms. After teaching for more than 30 years at Western Michigan University, where he remains an Adjunct Professor of English and a member of the permanent faculty of the Prague Summer Program, Stuart Dybek became the Distinguished Writer in Residence at Northwestern University where he teaches at the School of Professional Studies. Dybek’s two collections of poems are Brass Knuckles (1979) and Streets in Their Own Ink (2004). His fiction includes Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, The Coast of Chicago, I Sailed With Magellan, a novel-in-stories, Paper Lantern: Love Stories, and Ecstatic Cahoots: Fifty Short Stories. His work has been anthologized and has appeared in elite literary magazines such as Harper’s, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Tin House, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly. His collection, The Coast of Chicago, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book and cited as an American Library Association Notable Book of 2005. A story from I Sailed With Magellan, titled “Breasts,” appears in the 2004 Best American Short Stories. Specific topics included: 1) Lecture on Art vs. Pop, Stephen King, the effects of techniques, genre fiction, formulaic narratives, M. Night Shamalyan, What is Art?, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, defining your terms, writing goals, society disappearing, just telling a story that interests people, Tao Lin, Harry Potter, going to an art museum, making an argument, visual art kissing the professor’s ass, poetry, comedy, sculpture, literature shmiterature, fundamental qualities, religion, genre fiction and philistines, postmodernism, themeless and meaningless forms having the MOST meaning of all, reality television as high art, religion as a system of ideas to get rid of arguments, because God said so, children’s literature, C.S. Lewis, Phillip Pullman, atheism, anti-Christianity, anti-organized religion, Jesus, humanism, Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 9 different accepted versions of the Bible, West Texas, To Kill a Mockingbird, the N-word, Mark Twain, Atticus Finch, and Go Set a Watchman. 2) Group debate about “Pet Milk” by Stuart Dybek, including the brevity of the story, not understanding why something is a story vs. a slice of life or other narrative format, plot summary, story not being deep, nostalgia, playing devil’s advocate, Chicago, readability, disproportionately weighted details not related to a theme, the El train or subway in Chi-town, Margaret Atwood, keys left by the bowl, having an eye for detail, opening up the details for the reader, mood and language, theme theme theme, details working together to form and work with the theme, alcohol, pet milk not being real milk, realist style, Ernest Hemingway, character sketch, resonance, the ending, Rock Springs by Richard Ford, remembering people who use pet milk, J.D. Salinger, Milan Kundera, modernism vs. postmodernism, plotlessness, thinking that the girl would die, poorly written sex scenes, understanding the space of a subway car, having sex on subway cars, too many details, a story about movement and transitions, making the character Jewish, Borges, trying to save the story, plot or theme, theme exploration, duality of waves and particles, the radio dial being where cultures are mixed, playing with time, King Alphonso XIII of Spain, movement and motion, Barth, Einstein, Newton, time is not set-time is relative, does the table end right here?, subjective perception, story simplicity, author intention, changing opinions, the joy and agony of nostalgia, traveling by subway, Risky Business, guessing the author, J.D.

What if you had an opportunity to get a treatment in front of actual Hollywood producers and directors, in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a chance to seize everything you ever wanted? Would you capture it? Or let it slip? The Austin Writing Workshop discusses treatments, to hilarious and endrunkening effect. There are brief intros and an outtro by Zeus for context, but here are some of the details discussed in the workshop portion of the show: Yo: Start: Lecture on Screenwriting and Treatments, including 3 common ways to write a treatment, logline, 2-3 page summary, 60-page summary, 3-act structure, Act 1 as introduction to character and story ending with twist that pushes plot forward, The Matrix, The Magus, The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco, Fowles, writing what people care about, rising tension, Jack Kerouac, literary mysteries, clashing characters, TV shows and cliffhangers, end of Act 2 having another twist that pushes plot to where resolution can occur, Act 3 defined by resolution of the tension, Silence of the Lambs, peripety, putting a clock on it, The Atheist, Hannibal Lecter, the mask, The Matrix (again), The Magus (again), Kundera, sexuality, Charles Bukowski, Tao Lin, Haruki Marukami, hiding underwear, Lethal Weapon, Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, Risky Business, Tom Cruise, Richard Ford, the monkey story, Rock Springs, Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll, Val Kilmer, Sideways, Paul Giamatti, pinot noir, running down the street naked, Thomas Hayden Church, the absurdity of life’s meaninglessness, humor, Requiem for a Dream, the Player, Interstellar, Matthew McConnaughey, George Clooney, real science, Matt Damon, Jason Bourne, life pods, Christopher Nolan, Memento, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Bourne Identity, Identity, John Cusack, the glitch in the matrix, Doubt, Shakespeare, and writer’s block. After the jump: The food and wine arrive, and the group continues discussing treatments, writing organically, motivation, chances to be famous, laziness, pathology, the clock is ticking, Confederacy of Dunces, Sideways Lifetime, Rock Springs, Memento, getting it finished, The War of Art, resistance, Stephen Pressfield, finishing a novel, waiting until you’re 90, A River Runs Through It, The Jim 1,000 point scale, Spring in Fialta, Rock Springs, Fat, A Small Good Thing, A Clean Well-Lighted Place, indefatiguable, a narrow window of time of six months, Sherlock Holmes, House, and The Magus. Outtro ******

The Austin Writing Workshop met at the Westin at the Domain in Austin, Texas, to discuss literature and philosophy. This is the result. This is the 100th episode of Saturday Show. If you enjoy this podcast, please use the Amazon.com portal on this page to support us and help ensure we can keep producing these podcasts. 1) Intro by Zeus 2) Group discussion of “Bohemians” by George Saunders, including not hating it as much as the other ones, being too cute, writing siding with the absurd, over-the-top language, intentional, tying into the theme, justifying a mistake, subtlety, finding the middle ground, the raccoon, explaining the raccoon, style issue, dry realism, surprising phrasing, slipstream, Halloweenification, science fiction, reality but weirder, writing genre versus literary fiction, what makes literary fiction literary?, making the case for the theme working, natural theme and feeling organic, presupposing the stupidity of Zeus, emphasis on schtick, Chuck Pahlaniuk, Clint Eastwood, details working, interesting absurdity, roles switching, M. Night Shamalan, Stephen King, story not working but being interesting, Cory being drunk, being immersed in the story, drunk dads, Lord of the Flies, gangs of kids doing shit, society of losers, Of Mice and Men, Lenny, plot summary, surrealism, story being two or three vignettes, unreliable narrators, focus, immature writing, prosthetic legs, plants, little kid narrator and seeming surreal, arguing about the realism of the story, the lady who pretended to be black, readers losing, discursiveness, narrowing down, defending the writer, the plotlessness of the story, style issues, cutting too much, Wiffle ball and bat, over-editing, speculation, excellent details, analyzing the ending to get the theme of the story, the turd boat, obviousness of theme, good readability, having literary merit, Silo Apparent, guessing the author, moral and theme, subtlety, Spring in Fialta by Vladimir Nabokov, Kundera, Pahlaniuk, George Saunders, BINGO, Tenth of December, Thomas McGuane, Steven Hawking, being broadly categorical, Democrats, Republicans, and Sam Harris. 3) Interjection by Zeus re: Ann Coulter digression 4) Group discussion continues, including Ann Coulter, America going to crap, Christians, Larry Flynting people, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh, two languages per country, and World War II. 5) Interjection by Zeus re: member-submitted story. 6) Group discussion of the member-submitted story, including extra lines, the jokes, descriptions, lavendar shirts, plot summary, and uploading the WRONG file.

At a Whole Foods at the Domain in Austin, Texas, the Austin Writing Workshop breaks down “The Apologizer” by recluse and literary genius Milan Kundera and two chapters of Zeus’s work-in-progress novel while drinking beer and chugging 5-Hour Energies. More details as follows: 1) Zeus’s introduction to the podcast 2) Group discussion of “The Apologizer” by Milan Kundera, including the thematic structure, unreliability of human memory, understanding reality, the talking picture, questioning everything you just read, Silo Apparent, plot summary, Eve from the Garden of Eden, apologizing and not knowing, not having a navel, the beginning, style, insights into sexuality, pre-pubescent boy, bad style, being amateurish with philosophical, talkiness, everything being fake, surrealism, understanding the character motivations, style issues, bad Kerouac, believing the storyline, title guesses, symbolism, heavy-handedness, short girls, fixation on navels, female sexuality, Schroedinger’s cat, picture of mom on the wall, the father and mommy issues, connecting the dots, Hindu culture, Kali the Destroyer, connection to mom, plot and/or theme, Confederacy of Dunces, trite, moral agency, feeling guilty, having a narrator that you buy into, the danger of philosophy in stories, Ernest Hemingway, existentialism, phenomenalogicalism, Ayn Rand, story not being Kundera, Mary Gaitskill, translation, Henry Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, Jack Kerouac, Kundera when he was 13, Kundera when he was 80, Kundera not caring about his writing anymore, the New Yorker, French and Czech, and trilingualism. 3) Zeus’s setting of the context of the critique of the member-submitted story. 4) Group discussion of Chapters 5 and 6 of THE CROSS IN THE BALLPARK by Frank “Zeus” Marcopolos, including the over-use of the word “weird,” college guys talking, too much realism, Budski using Spanish, Perez Hilton, Paris Hilton, thumb-writing, plot summary, nit-picking, dialogue and realism, tape recorder, character spotlights, the concept of a foil, altruism, getting rid of unncessary things, readability, getting better at cleaning up the story, a progression, earlier drafts, and all stories being about a kind of death. 5) Zeus’s outtro and farewell. Here’s something unrelated, but funnish anyway. A remix I did of “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot, clips from the movie “Apocalypse Now,” and “The End” by the Doors. Lemme know whatchou think!

Listen in as the members of the Austin Writing Workshop debate the literary merits of “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield. Also, chapters 3 and 4 from Zeus’s new novel, and much less drinking than in previous episodes. Sorry. 0:00 Excerpt from the podcast 0:54 Podcast Introduction by Zeus 3:37 Group discussion of chapters 3 and 4 from Zeus’s new novel, including having read the story already, over-massaging the text, editing too much, fresh eyes, specific word choice, plot summary, confusion about the shark story, going on too long, looking at the story fresh, expectations, understanding the details, liking the details, dirt specks in a rain drop, the shark scene, sarcasm, being Google-y, realism, losing realism, poor choices for details, the stupid raindrop, cascading and fleeting raindrops, the direction of the raindrop, details working for the story, way too much sentence, “trite” dialogue, stilted style, sub-text of finding religion again, stylistic dreamworld, clashing styles, coaching Ocean, realism transcending through the subtlety, symbology of water, flooding, and more water symbolism. 38:50 Group discussion of “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, being a smart aleck, J.D. Salinger, John Steinbeck, explanations of theme, Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, the monkey story, the fact that the story is dated, story’s utility as a teaching tool, being over the top, “Fat,” 1930’s, Ernest Hemingway, plot summary, the asshole character of the boss, more plot summary, reversal of fortune, writerly details, loneliness, wanting for the fly to be stronger as an irrational desire, braggarts, theme-heavy, post world war one expression of existential despair and helplessness, Camus, Dan Carlin, Blueprint for Armageddon, man’s unwillingness to accept death, symbolism of the name Woodifield being a forest, the first sentence, 1922, the failure of consciousness, ink blotting equal to artillery shelling, World War 2, voting, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, George Orwell, 1984, Animal Farm, Steinbeck, Francine Prose, anonymous authors, considered top 5 stories of all time, story being easily teachable, Nabokov, The Yellow Wallpaper, controversy, tuberculosis, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and totally misreading the story. 1:08:27 End of Podcast Here is “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield: