Who is this Guy with the Weird, Oddly Greekish But Not Quite Greek Last Name?
One sunshiney morning in Brooklyn, Frank Marcopolos's mother finally said yes. [Marcopolos rhymes with metropolis.]
Usually, it went like this for poor young Frank:
"Can I have a new bike?"
"No."
"Can I get some Michael Jordan sneakers?"
"No."
"Can I get a new baseball mitt?"
"No."
"Can I run away from here and find parents who can actually buy things with money?"
"No."
That is, until one day when his mother said yes. This was the question:
"Can I get some books?"
"Yes."
"How many? Like, one?"
"As many as you want!"
"Wait, what?"
The place was the Flatlands Branch of the New York Public Library, and a love of reading was born. As Frank grew older, he:
Usually, it went like this for poor young Frank:
"Can I have a new bike?"
"No."
"Can I get some Michael Jordan sneakers?"
"No."
"Can I get a new baseball mitt?"
"No."
"Can I run away from here and find parents who can actually buy things with money?"
"No."
That is, until one day when his mother said yes. This was the question:
"Can I get some books?"
"Yes."
"How many? Like, one?"
"As many as you want!"
"Wait, what?"
The place was the Flatlands Branch of the New York Public Library, and a love of reading was born. As Frank grew older, he:
- Founded “The Whirligig” literary magazine in 1999, which has been called “a landmark, demonstrating the power of the literary underground.” One reviewer said that “you get this true lion-roaring sense that Editor Frank Marcopolos knows what he likes, and how to read, and how to publish, and he has guts, and eats insects on Wheaties with bleach.”
- Wrote novels and short stories, which have been reviewed with such praise as “thorough-goingly entertaining” and “highly readable…recalls the style of Michael Chabon or John Irving. A literary gem that should not be missed.”
- Graduated from broadcasting school, after which he created literary-audio work featured in libraries, retail, movie trailers, scholastic environments, underground mixtapes, and on YouTube, with lifetime listens of his YouTube audiobooks currently standing at over one million. His channel's "like" ratio is ~94%. The YouTube channel is mostly used by students with reading difficulties or disabilities to succeed in their schoolwork.
Where to Find the Goods???
My audiobooks can be found on Audible, iTunes, Google Play, Hoopla, YouTube, and libraries. For my novels and other content in e-book and paperback format, go to Amazon. I write literary essays on Medium. You may wish to support my work for as little as $1 a month via Patreon. Fun literary apparel can be found here.
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Literary Merch
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Reviews
Despite tremendous pressure to stay home, Enzo stubbornly decides to visit Cortland for a summer training camp. At the much bigger university, he feels his chances of getting noticed by a pro baseball scout will improve exponentially. What he finds there, however, is a petite New Age guru named Trudy Booth, who helps him sort out his conflicted feelings about religion, responsibilities, and just what his decisions going forward might mean. Booth’s decidedly unorthodox teaching methods are both painful and enlightening—and what Enzo ultimately learns has absolutely nothing to do with baseball.
This is a thoughtful, articulate, and often humorous narrative about the choices we all make, sometimes in the space of a single heartbeat, and the life-altering impact of our subsequent actions. It’s also a bittersweet tale of self-discovery and seminal experiences, full of realistic dialogue, unexpected situations, and offbeat characters. A highly readable novel that recalls the style of Michael Chabon or John Irving, this is a literary gem that should not be missed.
- Starred Review, BlueInk Review of EAGLES AND HAWKS AND ALSO PEOPLE AS WELL
But Marcopolos offers a postmodern twist. The mysterious keeps taking prominence in this novel: the hazing rituals, which are amusing, sexy, confusing, and disturbing all at once; the hard-to-figure attitudes of Enzo’s teammates; oddities like a replica of the Winchester Mystery House that somehow features a pagan mechanical bull ride; Trudy’s oracular pronouncements; and portentous dreams and symbols involving several dead birds and brick-tied balloons that a teammate pops. Each image speaks of death and aborted flight, a counterpoint to Enzo’s longing for the big leagues and a home that isn’t stifling. Also complex is Enzo’s character. He wants to do the right thing, is compassionately moved by the plight of a boy with a harsh father, but is a self-admitted “douchebag” to Shannon and considers standing up to a sexist teammate’s “joke” to be a fight not worth having.
A well-written, intriguing sports tale that explores the importance of home base.
- Kirkus Review of EAGLES AND HAWKS AND ALSO PEOPLE AS WELL
The best stories in this collection are the most traditional ones. One standout is “Valhalla House,” in which Enzo, a college baseball player, is weakened by a recent elbow surgery; he can “feel the impact of losing everything,” including the loyalty of “all the people who loved him fifty pounds and a 95-mile-an-hour fastball ago.” Here, Marcopolos really captures the brutal realities of chancing everything on the possibility of a pro career. “Eroticoffica” is another strong entry, in which two young women take a break from their job writing pornographic e-books (“each cranking out many titles of hot-selling erotica each year”) in order to swap complaints and dreams; they go to an eccentric coffee shop, where their laughter inadvertently prompts another patron to go home and shoot himself.
There’s plenty here that Updike and Cheever fans will like, even if they’ve never given postmodernism a second glance. A frequently effective collection of stories about people seeking to understand themselves and their predicaments.
- Kirkus Review of INFINITE ENDING
Marcopolos has solid fictional instincts and a gift for language (“The September night air smelled faintly of damp pine, chilly and clean . . .”). His talents certainly offer satisfactions here.
- BlueInk Review of INFINITE ENDING
I loved your performance! Thank you so incredibly much for taking the time to read this. Hearing someone read this story brought depth and understanding that was lacking when I was trying to read it on my own. Your voice is rich and dynamic! Thank you!
You have the perfect reading voice 💙 it’s amazing !
Thank you so much! My professor made us read this poem and I have dyslexia so there would have been no way for me to read this myself! Thank you so much!!!
My goodness! That's the best narration I have ever heard! Thanks for sharing your incredible talent! I Simply loved it!
I appreciate the tone of your reading. This has helped me in my American Lit class this fall. Thank you!
I read the whole story and didn’t understand it but after listening to you read, it makes sense lol thank you 🙏🏻 I have a quiz on this.
This was Awesome. I’ve listened to it 3 times . I have to do a quiz on symbolism, theme and give a summary with examples. It’s better because of you. I will look for your audio for the remainder of my Eng 2 course.
Great job! You made this story really come to life.
So soothing and relaxing, also perfect reading.
Thank you, sir. I love the way of your storytelling..💙 I subscribed!
Pitch, pace, and power in your natural, conversational style, Frank! Thank you for all your great work. And there is a lot. You're the best I've heard. CHEERS! You have given me many enjoyable hours of great entertainment and I applaud your selections.
😍😍reading💆♂️💆♂️
This is THE BEST audio recording I have ever heard. Thank you.
Years after this being created it's still helping out many students, for which I offer you my gratitude! No, but seriously, you saved me a lot of time, thank you.
The English major's aesthetic is listening to this with Hippo Campus in the background.
Listening helps for a better understanding of the literary pieces, could not have gotten my degree without these.
YES!!!! I'm cheering for this. Thank you for this!
This is just so absolutely fantastic. The performance is utterly first rate and the poem is a revelation. Thanks, Frank!
Fabulous read. Thank you.
Thank you for posting this. Great narration!
Love the story. Helped with my homework! Thank you so much! Love the voice acting.
Thank you so much for uploading I had an assignment on this and it’s worth 75% of my grade and I forgot the book at school you save my life😭❕❕
Great narrator, excellent stories. Thank you so much! I only recently came across your channel and well, go figure...I never knew such a channel existed! No ridiculous Creepy Pasta or “I swear this is a true story” from Reddit. Those stories have their place, no doubt, but the classics are amazing stories that have stood the test of time and a chance to discover new favorites. I cannot imagine my life without literature and I truly thank you for the focus of your channel. I look forward to listening to many, many more stories!
OMG - late to the game, but I just found your YouTube channel and it’s amazeballs! I’m a HS English teacher and your channel is glorious. I just sent the link to the SPED and Dyslexic peeps! Thank you for what you do! 🤩😍🤩
I love Ernest Hemingway! Thank u for uploading and sharing. Only if You Tube had a heart for this, bc it deserves more than just a thumbs up like. Love the narrator's voice!
The narrator sometimes sounds like Matthew McConaughey.
Honestly, I hate this story, but your voice is INCREDIBLE and the tone is quite captivating. Excellent reading. You're a lifesaver.
Thank you for making this story bearable!
He sounds like George Clooney.
Understood the story so much better listening to it than I did reading it myself. Thank you, man!
THANK YOU!! I couldn't seem to be able to finish the story by myself. It was an awesome read, thank you so much 🙏
Good stuff.. you pick good stories.... stuck on your channel!
Amazing! I tried reading it, but gave up halfway through. Stephen Crane is a great author and I feel that you did justice to this story with an amazing voice. You really brought life into it. You remind me of the the narrator for the Raven Cycle series.
Finally, a quality recording! Using this whilst I read helps me stay focused on the alien language.. Thanks so much for uploading!
Thank you sooo much! I really needed this for my exams❤️
Bravo! Your voice is incredible and you really bring a ton of artistic energy to your readings. Thoroughly enjoyed this and love listening to your work!
Your voice reminds me of Robert Downey, Jr. Thanks btw! I have the bad habit of skimming so thanks to you I was forced to read everything while listening to you; hopefully, I'll have a good grade on my test tomorrow!
This saved me! We're doing classes online and I tried to read the document the teacher sent but just couldn't focus, so thank you for this!
Dude... You're so FUCKIN' underrated!!! You're my favorite narrator! Please use some YouTube advertisement, and be more popular! I'm writing a novel at the moment. You are totally my 1st choice after Hugo Weaving and James Spader decline me lol
This was really good content and from a book/author I have never heard of. Great job performing it. Looking forward to more content like this!
Respect from India.
Who here doing school work at home bc the corona virus bc I am :(
Jesse!! Exactly! I have to read it too and if it wasn't for this video...I would be up the creek without a paddle! Lol👍🏽
Oh, thank you so much for the reading. I'm usually not a fan of Gothic literature as I find it kind of boring due to all those scenes about horror and so forth. However, your exciting way of reading the story facilitated the process quite a lot. Keep up the good work!
I'm here because of my English teacher lol
Excellent Frank. Unusual twist at the end!
I wanted to do homework and eat raman. You have saved me from slight discomfort, and thus I owe you my life.
YES , THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO, so then I don't have to waste so much time reading as slow as a snail!
Thank you for this, as my Reading is far from the best. This has helped me understand the story for class. It was a big help as words are not my thing and never has been. Nor is spelling. So your work here was well enjoyed and helpful to a man who has a hard time reading. Thank you so much!
Brilliant tale! Thanks👍
Damn, that ending was a gut punch to my small arrogance agreeing with the rich guy!
Your voice is amazing!!!!!!🤩😍🤩❤️❤️❤️❤️
Your voice is pleasant to listen to and this makes the story interesting. Thank you. 👍
Bruh, you are a life saver.
Tried reading on my own for class and failed 3 times--bless you for making this sound interesting! ❤️
I had to read this for a senior year assignment. Thanks for making it bearable, I actually enjoyed it. 👍
I LOVE YOUR NARRATING!
Awesome tone of speech, love your voice!
For a while, I attempted to find an audio reading of this story, but no voices seemed to match the tone of the book. None appealed to my tastes. As soon as I found this version, I sat, listened for a few minutes, then found myself finishing the entire thing. Your version is very wonderful. Thank you for making this. Helped me finish a lesson in no time.
Great! Great! Great!
You really made my reading easier. Thanks!
What a nice story! Reading the text as I listened to your narration surely was a pleasant experience.
Since I started listening to audiobooks (when I could no longer read paper books) the narrator became as important as the story and the characters in it; your reading doesn't disappoint.
I spent the whole night listening to your readings of short stories while I was sewing. Thank you for these videos, Sir, I am feeling inspired after so long! :)
This is one of the best stories I've ever heard.... excellent narration!!
Great expressive reading! Nicely done!!🤩
Excellent story, and reading. Loving your channel. 😃💖💝
Hard to tell which I appreciate the most. The writer or the reader. You can almost believe you are listening to Steven Leacock himself reading.
I spent my evening looking for good readings, couldn't bear any of them. Thank you so much for doing this job so well, you're wonderful!!💝
Great narration! Your voice fits Hemingway's World quite well in my opinion. Your delivery is right on with how I say the words come off the page. Nice job, dude!
A wonderfully read story! Thank you, Frank!
Previous English major, college dropout who still loves literature, mom of two toddlers. I listen to this every morning with my kids playing in the background. It has been my antidepressant and is now like my bible. No other piece has so well enveloped the entirety of life (in my opinion).
Superb work on bringing Dostoevsky's words to life.
Simply hooked onto your channel!! :)
Mr. Marcopolos, very well read this story was by you. Your inflections and characterizations through voice were wonderful. I felt a full range of emotions while listening. Thank you.
Great enthusiasm and tone of voice! I could imagine the descriptions that you read in my mind!
You have such an amazing story-telling ability! I came here for the Wells story but was more captivated by your voice and the incredible emtional expression with each word. You seem like a natural for word and phrase coloring.
I'm reading this for school but I love listening to this because you give so much character and I love it!!! 🤩
- YouTube Listeners (YouTube.com/BrooklynFrank)
Damn! Frank Marcopolos is Lord of Editors! This issue is a festival and Edgar Allan Poe would weep big tears of lusty fog just to hold for a second the power of The Whirligig. Loki and Odin wrestle the frost giants to get their hands on each new issue.
Well, this has to be some of the better fiction and poetry I’ve read in a good while and balanced with a sense of what is the best and most wild of American writing, that writing that lances the boil of mind. You know, good reader, that there are a lot of magazines with a lot of shit poems in them and the fiction is worse. But you get this true lion-roaring sense that Frank Marcopolos knows what he likes, and how to read, and how to publish, and he has guts, and eats insects on Wheaties with bleach. He has made a fine thing here. I recall that Bukowski started writing slight, short stories and I think that maybe the folks in here... well, Marcopolos has discovered the next generation and is opening them up and allowing them to fly into our thick, chocolate, blood-hooded, and howling nights.
– Michael Basinski, Curator, Rare Books Collection, University at Buffalo Libraries
I’ve long talked about the need to create a new kind of fiction, beginning with the short story, in order to reinvigorate the art–-in order to get the mass public reading literature again. The task has been for writers to create not stale bland “literary” stories which stir and entertain no one, but instead, to yawp out in a good old American writer way stories which rock. Undergrounders, especially from the “zine” scene, have been doing exactly that for a number of years. Many of the best of these writers can be found in a new compilation of writing from one of the best lit-zines of the past ten years, The Whirligig. Do you want to read the new? Do you wish to discover a fresh alternative to the same-old same-old? Here is where you start.
The Whirligig contains the kind of writing you will simply not be able to read from the tepid mainstream. The Whirligig is a landmark… It demonstrates the power of the literary underground; the full burst of energy that occurs when there’s a conjunction of zine talents. It’s almost like a Greatest Hits of zine writers. For all its modest, zeeny presentation, The Whirligig is one of the most important lit journals being produced in this country.
– Karl Wenclas, Founding Member of the Underground Literary Alliance
The gang down here at the Jersey City Office of The Ministry Of Cool, Useful, and Interesting quite like The Whirligig, a great li’l ficzine out of Brooklyn. Perzines and scenezines died a long, slow, and mostly well-deserved death, but Frank Marcopolos took a different route. He publishes some of his own stuff, but always gives the other authors and stories the lion’s share of the zine and the hype (such as hype is in the zine world). He also does amazing things like offer useful editorial commentary, publish on time, and works to develop an interesting multigenre voice for the zine. And the strategy seems to be paying off. He’s published some of the cream of the underground crop including Jeff Somers, Jim Munroe, Ann Sterzinger, and Jennifer “Callie” Callahan.
– Nick Mamatas, author of the award-nominated novels Move Under Ground, Northern Gothic, and Under My Roof. His work has appeared in Razor, Village Voice, Spex, Clamor, In These Times, Polyphony, and many others.
Reading The Whirligig is the next best thing to going on summer vacation. It belches pleasurable sentiments. It’s a nice read packed with lean short fiction and non-flowery poetry. The Whirligig seems to be a favorite in the zine world with so many advertisements from other reads such as “The Urban Bizarre” in place. My face contorted with smiles at the hidden landmines and pointed political stances that were all packed neatly in fine fictional form. The stories weren’t built on topics I’d seek out knowingly, but I found myself decadently engaged in The Whirligig‘s pages. I can only strain to imagine what these writers’ lives are like and what their day jobs are. Fascinating! If only I could be a fly on the wall or a catch in The Whirligig‘s web.
- Stephanie Holmes, Xerography Debt #14
Hidden Gems
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