ahistoryoftheworldinsixglasses pictureA History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage, narrated by Sean Runnette
Published in audio by Tantor Audio; published in print by Walker Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury

Synopsis:

From the publisher:

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.

For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

Thoughts on the story:

Tom Standage has a fascinating story to tell of how our history has shaped what we drink, which ends up shaping our history again. Both the book and the argument were well-laid out, progressing logically through each of the six drinks and through human civilization, as one drink gave rise to another. Different technological and cultural advances precipitated the rise of each of the six drinks, and each of them further shaped culture in its own way. It should be noted, though, that this is less a history of the world than a history of Western Civilization, beginning with the early farmers in the fertile crescent and moving ever westward. Of course the east does get a mention, particularly when tea is involved, and coffee came to Europe from the Arab world, but in both cases the use of the beverage in Western Europe is the main focus. This is not necessarily a bad thing if one is prepared for this, but at the same time it would have been nice to have a more worldwide lens based on the title.

Thoughts on the audio production:

Sean Runnette is a great narrator of nonfiction. His delivery is clear and his voice easy to listen to, with just the right amount of interest added in his inflection. There was occasionally an issue with the quality of the recording, some of the edits were noticeable, but overall they didn’t negatively affect the listening experience.

soundbytes pictureOverall:

A really fascinating way of looking at our shared history. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells: Audio/Print*
Indiebound: Audio/Print*

I’m launching a brand-new meme every Friday! I encourage you to review any audiobooks you review on Fridays and include the link here. If you have reviewed an audiobook earlier in the week, please feel free to link that review as well. Thanks to Pam for creating the button.

* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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paradiselust pictureParadise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden by Brook Wilensky-Lanford
Published by Grove Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic

When Brook Wilensky-Lanford learned that a relative of hers had, in his younger days, searched for the Garden of Eden on Earth, she was a bit perplexed. After all, her family definitely did not subscribe to Biblical literalism. As she began to dig a little further into his motivations, however, she found an entire subculture – both religious and secular – dedicated to the discovery of the Garden of Eden. Soon Wilensky-Lanford was on a quest of her own, to discover the breadth of the mania for Eden.

Paradise Lust is a comprehensively researched look at humankind’s desire to return to an Edenic paradise – whether that paradise represents unity, civilization, or progress to any given supplicant – mixed with just a hint of humor and sarcasm. The subjectivity of humor could be a problem in a nonfiction book such as this, but Wilensky-Lanford does a fabulous job of separating the historical record from her own opinions.

It is simply fascinating how many different motivations have driven people to search for the Garden of Eden, particularly the fact that there were secular, not only religious ones. Similarly fascinating is the number of Eden-seekers who have placed paradise in the New World. Columbus, for example, believed he located the Garden in Venezuela, and more than one group has claimed its existence in middle America.

Wilensky-Lanford is an engaging writer, and brings a great deal of clarity to the profusion of quests for Eden. That people continue to search for the Garden on Earth is not an idea that would have ever occurred to me, but regardless, Paradise Lust makes for an intriguing read. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher, via NetGalley.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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sexonsixlegs pictureSex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, & Language From the Insect World by Marlene Zuk
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Animals can tell us much about ourselves. We can study their gene, their reactions to stimuli, their behaviors in order to better understand the vagaries of humanity. Studying adorable mammals tends to cause anthropomorphizing, which can confuse results. Studying insects, however, does not tend to result in any romantic notions, which is part of the reason that Marlene Zuk is so fascinated by them; although she finds them captivating in their own right as well. In Sex on Six Legs, Zuk endeavors to share with the rest of us myriad things she believes make insects so worth our attention.

Insects play a special role in our use of animals to help us understand ourselves, as I argue throughout this book. Because they are rarely cared for by their parents, and usually live relatively solitary lives without the input of others, the behavior they exhibit as adults is largely controlled by their genes. -p. 143

Zuk is extremely successful both in her attempts to make insects interesting and to shed light on just what complex creatures they are, and just how much many of their behaviors mirror our own. For example, Zuk discusses in the first chapter the extremely few species that engage in true teaching, one of the hallmarks of which is that information is passed on at some cost to the teacher, simply allowing children to mimic actions is not sufficient to count. Surprisingly, none of our simian relatives meet this distinction:

That teaching happens in ants and not monkeys or apes is unsettling for the same reason I love studying insects: it’s all about getting to the same destination with different modes of transportation. -p. 33

And who knew just how complicated bee dance language is?

The length of the run is correlated with the distance of the food from the hive, while the angle of the bee’s body relative to vertical indicates the angle between the sun and the food source…. In other words, bees seem to have symbolic representations for the distance and direction of the food, which fits many if not all of the criteria for an actual language. -p. 214

Sex on Six Legs is not merely didactic, however, but entertaining as well. Zuk brings a measure of her own personality into the book, recounting her fondness for earwigs and other insects, as well as a good degree of humor.

At some level, everyone with siblings understands the urge to murder them. -p. 167

Sex on Six Legs is an incredibly interesting and educational book, although readers do run the risk of seeming insufferable spouting off insect knowledge to anyone who will listen. Zuk succeeds in granting a new appreciation for the six-legged creatures, although it doesn’t make me want to see them in my house any more than I did before.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher, via Netgalley.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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psychopathtest pictureThe Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, narrated by Jon Ronson
Published in audio by Tantor Audio; published in print by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin

Synopsis:

Known as a journalist who gets things done, Jon Ronson is called quickly when neurologists all over the world all receive the same baffling book. Ronson uncovers the perpetrator with little difficulty, but his involvement in the hoax gives him an insight into another phenomenon: the impact of madness on our every day lives. During the course of his investigation, Ronson meets neurologists who deal with psychopathy and becomes particularly interested in the theory that nearly every aspect of our lives is shaped by the influence of psychopaths, particularly those who seem to be in positions of power in disproportionally large numbers. Armed with Bob Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist, known in many circles as the Psychopath Test, Ronson ventures out among a variety of people, all with apparently psychopathic tendencies to see what he can learn.

Thoughts on the story:

The title of The Psychopath Test is ever so slightly misleading. Ronson is not truly exclusively interested in psychopaths, but in madness and how it shapes the world, and our reactions to it – the case that led him to this topic did not directly involve a psychopath at all, in fact. However he finds over the course of his investigation that psychopathy is the most influential of madnesses, so it fittingly takes a place of prominence in his research and the resulting book.

The study of psychopaths truly is fascinating. At one point, another psychologist complains that Bob Hare – of checklist fame – speaks of psychopaths almost as if they were a separate species, Homo psychopathis, or something. There were many times throughout the book when the same thought occurred to me, not as a criticism, but as something that sent shivers down my spine. Still, though, by the end of his research, Ronson has learned not only a respectful fear of psychopaths, but a healthy dose of skepticism about our method for identifying them. Contrary to the ‘separate species’ remark, psychopathy is not an all or nothing proposition, but instead it is a spectrum. At what point are you a psychopath? For most intents, someone who scores a 30/40 on Hair’s checklist is so classified, but what about someone who scores a 29? Is that so far from a 31?

One thing I do wish had been addressed by Ronson and his research, even if only fleetingly, is the prevalence of male vs. female psychopaths. Unless I am much mistaken, each of the people in whom Ronson and others diagnosed psychopathic tendencies was male. We know that psychopaths comprise approximately 1% of the population, but it would have been interesting to see how that breaks down on gender – and other socioeconomic – lines. Is the faulty amygdala primarily a male defect, or did Ronson merely have a faulty sample?

Thoughts on the audio production:

In The Psychopath Test, Ronson narrates his own work. His voice does take some getting used to, but he is not half-bad, as narrators go. He is perfectly capable of inserting appropriate excitement and emotion into the text. Particularly attractive is his narration of his own anxieties, oftentimes nearly crippling. Because he inserts himself so completely into his narrative, it makes complete sense for him to do the actual narration when the text is translated into an audiobook. The experience is made that much richer by his familiarity with the text and ability to impart the full range of emotions he felt during this period of research.

soundbytes pictureOverall:

The Psychopath Test is a fascinating work of extremely narrative journalistic nonfiction. Readers and listeners alike will be more than a little horrified by the psychopaths who lurk everywhere around us, mimicking our emotions though they feel none themselves. I would recommend The Psychopath Test in either print or audio, but be prepared to begin measuring everyone you meet against the Hair Checklist.

Buy this book from:
Powells: Audio/Print*
Indiebound: Audio/Print*

I’m launching a brand-new meme every Friday! I encourage you to review any audiobooks you review on Fridays and include the link here. If you have reviewed an audiobook earlier in the week, please feel free to link that review as well. Thanks to Pam for creating the button.

Source: Tantor Audio.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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statuesthatwalked pictureThe Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo
Published by Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

If you have read Jared Diamond’s Collapse, you know that the natives of Easter Island caused the collapse of their own civilization in the course of building their famous statues, causing the deforestation of their island by cutting down trees to transport the giant heads. Hunt and Lipo did not set out to disprove this widely accepted truism when they ventured to Easter Island, called Rapa Nui in the local language, but disprove it they did and, in the course of doing so, they unraveled many of the mysteries surrounding Easter Island: from the true cause of the deforestation of Rapa Nui, to the social structure that supported statue building, to the statues themselves and how they were moved.

One need not be an archaeologist to find The Statues That Walked fascinating. Hunt and Lipo lay out their arguments for the past of Rapa Nui in a clear and articulate manner, providing just enough evidence to lend them credibility, but not so many technical details to lose their lay readers. Assuming their science is valid – and Hunt and Lipo give the reader no reason to assume it is not – this team seems to have made great headway in explaining the history and basic culture of the people of Easter Island, not least the explanation that the statues were moved by ‘walking’ them.

The only real problem with The Statues That Walked is the extent to which its authors inserted themselves in their story, which was either too much, or not enough. In no way did they introduce themselves or give any sense of who they were, and yet they referred to their findings, their state of mind going into the research, etc. Inserting oneself into a story such as this one can lend a greater sense of narrative flow and make it easier to engage readers, but in order to do that, an actual sense of the personality of the authors must come through. The writing was clear and engaging enough that the authors were not a necessary plot device to keep readers interested. In the end, their random insertion served only to distract from the fascinating picture of Easter Island painted by The Statues That Walked.

A solid work of nonfiction, odd insertion of the authors not withstanding. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound.*

Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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bloodwork pictureBlood Work by Holly Tucker
Published by W. W.  Norton & Co

If you need a blood transfusion, you just head to the hospital, get your blood typed, and lay back and have a nice sterilized needle send some nice, compatible blood into your veins, right? Certainly this is the case now, but it wasn’t always so. In the 17th century, you might have been infused the blood of a cow, dog, or sheep through a long tube. And, too, you might not get the transfusion because you lost blood in an accident or something similar, you might receive one in order to treat your mental instability.

The men had agreed that the cooling effects of blood transfusion could be very promising treatment for “extravagant” minds. At the time, humoral imbalances were still understood to lie at the root of madness. -p. 159

Blood transfusion was not fully accepted during the 17th century, however. In fact, the conservative physicians of France were wholly against the entire proposition. For one thing, it ran counter to centuries of medical based on the works of Galen. For another thing, it offended the strict Catholic beliefs of most of the country.

To imagine transfusion meant to dismiss biblical dictates such as in Deuteronomy 12:23, “Eat not the blood, for the blood is the life.” p. -209

Not all French physicians felt the same, however. Jean-Baptiste Denis was captivated by stories of transfusion reaching France from across the English Chanel, and decided that he too wanted to attempt transfusions. To this end, he tracked down Antoine Mauroy, the most notorious madman in Paris, and attempted to transfuse him. The first transfusion went well and even seemed to cure his insanity temporarily. A later transfusion, however, went very strangely and ended very badly, leading to Denis being accused of murder. It seemed clear that he was framed, but by whom?

Blood Work is not only the story of this medical mystery, the death of Antoine Mauroy and the framing of Jean-Baptiste Denis. Tucker also provides a background to the history of early transfusion. In doing so, she sheds a great deal of light on the culture and beliefs of 17th century France and England, as well as explaining the previously omnipresent custom of bloodletting.

Holly Tucker has written absolutely fascinating book. It is an extremely compelling read. Even with a stack of books in my bag and an even bigger pile on my Nook,, when I picked up Blood Work on the airplane I did not put it back down until I had turned the last page. Part of this is simply Tucker’s writing style. She has clear, concise prose that makes even convoluted 17th century medical beliefs easy to follow. In addition, she clearly has a great command of her subject matter. When the author understands her material so well, she can explain even the most complex subjects with ease.

Blood Work is a fascinating medical and social history written with a clarity that brings the reader greater understanding. I highly recommend it. And now, let me just leave you with the questions Tucker poses at the end of her introduction:

For now I simply ask readers to keep two questions in mind as they enter the teeming streets and cluttered laboratories of seventeenth-century Paris and London: Should a society set limits on its science? If so, how and at what price? -p. xxix

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher for a blog tour.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
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5401336988 a0fab7f1f3 m pictureGenome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley, narrated by Simon Prebble
Published in audio by Harper Audio, published in print by Harper Perennial, imprints of Harper Collins

Synopsis:

Our genomes determine so much. Not only who we are, but our history as well. In Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley takes us through the history of ourselves. In order to make it more easily comprehensible, Ridley uses the extended metaphor of literature.

There are twenty-three chapters, called chromosomes,
Each chapter contains several thousand stories, called genes.
Each story is made up of paragraphs, called exons, which are interrupted by advertisements called introns.
Each paragraph is made up of words, called codons.
Each word is written in letters, called bases.

Ridley discusses everything from disease resistance, species evolution, the selfishness of genes, to eugenics and the determinism of genes.

Thoughts on the work:

I do not have the background to speak to the validity of Ridley’s science. His presentation, however, is top notch. He hits the balance precisely between meaty detail and neither condescending to nor overwhelming his audience. I particularly liked the way he organizes his content, into thematic chapters based on the 23 human chromosome pairs. The content itself was fascinating as well. Every minute it seemed I was learning something new and interesting about the genes that make us who we are.

Thoughts on the audio production:

Simon Prebble does a fantastic job, as always. Even with Ridley’s engaging style, the wrong narrator could have made Genome incredibly boring, but Prebble does the work to keep my attention constant.

Overall:

A fascinating book. If you’re worried about getting bogged down in the science, try the audio. Even if you barely passed high school biology you will understand enough to get the gist without becoming overwhelmed trying to parse every sentence.

Buy this book in audio:
Audible

Buy this book in print:
Powells | Indiebound | Amazon*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
 

5274144754 23ddce0826 m pictureThe Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, narrated by Stephen Hoye
Published in audio by Tantor Media, published in print by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Synopsis:

“The Emperor of All Maladies” is a sprawling and epic biography of cancer from its earliest mentions, through a rocky history full of misunderstandings, to the latest and greatest cancer drugs of the present.

Thoughts on the work:

Absolutely fascinating.

Almost 600 pages or 21 hours of a discourse on cancer sounds perhaps somewhat intimidating, but Mukherhjee has created a fairly comprehensive biography which can be easily grasped by laymen, but is still detailed. I cannot even begin to list all of the things I learned. The section which has stuck with me more than anything else is the discussion on carcinogens and how they actually cause cancer. My level of thought on that had always been limited more or less to ‘they do,’ without questioning the how. This is merely one example of how Mukherjee makes the reader examine what she thinks she really knows about cancer. I cannot think of a single section of “The Emperor of All Maladies” that failed to excite my interest and curiosity. Best of all, Mukherjee walks the line of intellectual and easily understandable with grace and ease.

Thoughts on the audio production:

I was not terribly fond of Hoye at the outset, but he grew on me throughout the 21 hours of this audiobook. Largely I think he just got out of the way of Mukherjee’s work, but I think that was really exactly what needed to be done. Please see my review for AudioFile Magazine for more details.

Overall:

I would absolutely recommend “The Emperor of All Maladies.” Whether you partake in print or audio should be determined by the purpose you have in reading it. If you are already a medical science-minded person and want to really get in depth with the details Mukherjee provides, that is often best served by print. However, if you are like me and are looking more for a comprehensible overview of cancer and the history of cancer, audio is a great choice to keep you from getting too caught up in technical jargon and still give a good, comprehensive overview.

Buy this book from:
Audible: Audio
Powells: Audio/Print*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound: Print*
Amazon: Audio/Print*

Source: AudioFile Magazine.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.
 

4799477226 b01b437339 m pictureHow to Mellify a Corpse by Vicki Leon

“How to Mellify a Corpse” is a look into some of the science and superstitions of the ancient world, focusing on Greece (mostly Athens), Rome, Mesopotamia, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Carthage. Leon tries to mix humor with discoveries in science, math, music, and politics, with the great thinkers and odd ducks of the ancient world.

Except I thought the humor really fell flat. I could very clearly see the passages from “How to Mellify a Corpse” that were supposed to be funny, but they all felt to me like they were trying a little too hard. I have the feeling that Leon is actually very funny in person but, for me, it didn’t translate well into “How to Mellify a Corpse” and, if anything, sort of annoyed me. Leon really is sharing some pretty interesting information, but I thought the flat humor detracted from what would have otherwise been interesting facts. I also would have liked the individual stories to be set up a little better. I was often not exactly sure what the point was until I reached the end and, even then, was not exactly sure why I should care. Obviously tidbits of amusing history don’t need a long, complicated story-arc, but I still thought there was a little something missing here in the execution.

Interesting, but not as much as I would have liked it to be.

Buy this book from:
Powells.*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.*
Amazon.*

This review was done with a book received from InkWell Management.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

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4726535518 4bf5790d05 m pictureThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin

If you posted an audiobook review today, Wednesday June 23rd, please leave your link in the Mr. Linky before midnight Central time (US) and you will be eligible to win a prize.

Synopsis:

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins to undergo treatment for cervical cancer. While she was there, her doctors took a biopsy of her tumor. Although Henrietta would die soon after her treatment, her cancer cells, called HeLa, lived on. Her cells were cultivated in the lab and are still being used to this day by researchers. Henrietta’s cells have been all over the world, but her family hasn’t been able to get much of anywhere outside of the slums of Baltimore. The HeLa cells helped cure polio, but Henrietta’s family doesn’t have health care.

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is a combination of Henrietta’s story, the story of her family, and Rebecca Skloot’s own journey trying to uncover the story of Henrietta and the HeLa cells.

Thoughts on the story:

I am incredibly impressed with the way Rebecca Skloot wove this story together. I am a history major; although I read the occasional Discover magazine, I am certainly not a science person. Skloot managed to relate scientific information about the HeLa cells in a way that was easily understandable, but did not sound like she was talking down to me. She also managed to talk about what happened to Henrietta and her cells in a pretty balanced manner. Since Henrietta’s doctors didn’t get her consent for the biopsy – nor did they tell her family – her story is pretty controversial. Perhaps even more so because her cells have been so incredibly beneficial to researchers around the world. Honestly, I was not sure whether Skloot thought that what happened was a good or bad thing on balance, so thoroughly did she present both sides of the story.

I have seen a few reviewers mention that they were somewhat disturbed by the way that Skloot badgered Henrietta’s family until they finally agreed to meet with her, that she might have been using them in much the same way that the scientific community used them all those years. I have to admit, the thought occurred to me as well. Sure, she was trying to do the right thing, to tell HeLa’s story, but the doctors at Hopkins – and all the researchers who used HeLa cells afterwards – thought they were doing the right thing for the world by using the HeLa cells, consent or not. Skloot did form a foundation for Henrietta’s decendents and – eventually – were happy to have her story told, but it did make me uncomfortable for some time.

Overall, though, I’m really glad that I know Henrietta’s story and I do think that Skloot told it beautifully. It brought up so many issues of medical ethics that are fascinating and chilling to contemplate, I think it should be required reading. It would actually make a great book club book, because there is so much to discuss, which can’t be said for every science-based work of nonfiction.

Thoughts on the audio production:

Cassandra Campbell was a fantastic narrator. She became Rebecca Skloot to me to the point where I was really somewhat confused when I saw a television interview with Skloot and she didn’t sound the same as Campbell’s narration. I was somewhat worried I would be less able to follow the science in audio where I couldn’t easily go back and reread, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” also contains some sections narrated by Henrietta’s daughter Deborah Lacks. In this production, Bahni Turpin – one of the amazing narrators of “The Help” – narrated these sections, making it easier to feel that Deborah was really the one talking.

Overall:

Highly, highly recommended in either print or audio. The audio rendering was fabulous, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t be any less fabulous in print.

 picture

Buy this book from:
Powells: Audio/Print*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound: Audio/Print
*
Amazon: Audio/
Print*

This review was done with a book borrowed from the library.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

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