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Why is it that writers are
so fascinated by paradoxes?

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In a class with
Kate Bernheimer we

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created our own literary
movements with titles

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like The Coalition
of Contrarians

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and taglines like "embrace
repulsion" and "truth

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is created by merging
contradictions, or is it?"

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Fitzgerald says of paradoxes,
"The test of a first rate

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intelligence is the ability to
hold two opposing ideas in mind

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at the same time
and still retain

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the ability to function."

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It's hard for me to believe
that in an election year.

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I believe some paradoxes
can be stamped out

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if caught early enough.

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Though sometimes just knowing a
paradox exists inside yourself

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and learning to treat
it gently is the most

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you can hope to achieve.

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I kept a list of paradoxes
while reading Shannon Cain's

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collection of short stories, The
Necessity of Certain Behaviors.

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I was going to say a
few things about them,

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but I think I'll just let
them speak for themselves.

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"The List of
Necessary Paradoxes."

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The Landlord Paradox.

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When a rent-controlled
apartment in New York City

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directly influences a person's
decision to procreate.

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The Progeny Paradox.

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When a daughter's
disloyalty to her parent

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is both liberating and horrible.

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The Relative Good Paradox.

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When circumstances are such
that a person is thrilled

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to find an unwashed carrot and
a can of sardines in his lunch

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box.

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The Ice Age Paradox.

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When, in order to survive, an
individual must freeze herself

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inside into a block of ice.

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The Drive Paradox.

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When a person takes road
trips with no destination

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in order to figure out
where it is she is going.

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The Comfort Paradox.

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When complacency
is the very thing

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that threatens one's security.

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The A & P Paradox.

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When a grand gesture actually
makes everything better.

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The Fairness Paradox.

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When civility is the
most disturbing aspect

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of a person's behavior.

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Shannon Cain is the recipient
of two Pushcart Prizes, the O.

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Henry Prize, and a
Fellowship from the National

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Endowment for the Arts.

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Her stories have appeared in
Tin House, The Colorado Review,

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The New England Review,
and American Short Fiction,

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among others.

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Her short story collection, The
Necessity of Certain Behaviors,

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won the Drue Heinz Prize
for Literature in 2011.

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She is the co-editor of Powder,
Writing by Women In the Ranks,

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from Vietnam to Iraq,
and co-adaptor of Coming

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in Hot, the stage
adaptation of the book.

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She's editor of
Roadside Curiosities,

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Short Stories on American Pop
Culture, forthcoming in 2013,

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from the University
of Leipzig Press.

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And Shannon served four years
as the executive director

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and two years as fiction editor
of Arizona's own Kore Press.

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Shannon has recently joined
the faculty of the MFA Program

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at Bennington Writing Seminars.

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In reading Shannon
Cain's work, I've

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come to believe that she is
smart, observant, and honest.

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She has taught me a new way to
look at paradoxes, to admire

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their lovely incongruity and
that oh so necessary gray area

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that they inhabit.

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Shannon Cain shows the
complicated truth of matters

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and, in doing so,
creates a space

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for all of those
who feel oppressed

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by their own paradoxes, a space
where we can all just breathe.

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Please welcome Shannon Cain.

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[APPLAUSE]

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