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Beautiful Ruins
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
Audie Award Nominee, Fiction and Best Solo Narration, 2013
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.
And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning 50 years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist, and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion - along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.
Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
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Again and again, Molly Antopol’s deeply sympathetic characters struggle for footing in an uncertain world, hounded by forces beyond their control. Their voices are intimate and powerful and they resonate with searing beauty. Antopol is a superb young talent, and The UnAmericans will long be remembered for its wit, humanity, and heart.
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Sensational stories! Brilliant new author.
- By MidwestGeek on 05-04-14
By: Molly Antopol
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All the Winters After
- A Novel
- By: Seré Prince Halverson
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Kachemak Winkel never intended to come back to his hometown of Caboose, Alaska, where his family died in a plane crash 20 years earlier. When he finally musters the courage to return and face his painful memories, he's surprised to find a mysterious young woman living in his abandoned house.
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The Old Old Story
- By Bruce on 06-16-16
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Since We Fell
- A Novel
- By: Dennis Lehane
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel's marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths.
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Wait ....
- By Ann on 05-17-17
By: Dennis Lehane
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The Night Ocean
- By: Paul La Farge
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Marina Willett, MD, has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends - or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears.
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Frustratingly Uneven Due to Clumsy Plot Structure
- By Adam on 06-15-17
By: Paul La Farge
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God-Shaped Hole
- A Novel
- By: Tiffanie DeBartolo
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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When Beatrice Trixie Jordan replies to a personal ad, she meets Jacob Grace, a charming, effervescent 30-something free-spirit writer passionately seeking life. He possesses his own turns of phrase and ways of thinking and feeling that dissonantly harmonize with Trixie's off-center vision. As they rollercoaster through the joys and furies of their wrenching romance, they try to come to terms with the hurt brought about by both of their distant fathers who, in different ways, forsook them.
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To see a fortune teller or not to see one...
- By Renee on 08-08-18
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By: Kim Wright
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Che Milan's life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage. Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the 60 miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By Melissa on 09-22-19
By: Kim Wright
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Full Circle
- By: Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
History professor Ned Brummel is living happily with his partner of 12 years in small-town Maine when he receives a phone call from his estranged friend - Jack - telling him that another friend - Andy - is very ill and possibly near death. As Ned boards a plane to Chicago on his way to his friend's bedside, he embarks on another journey into memory, examining the major events and small moments that have shaped his world and his relationships with these two very different, very important men.
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To Every Season...
- By Donald on 10-01-13
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Bright Lights, Big City
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The tragicomedy of a young man in New York City, a writer, never named, who works as a fact-checker for a prestigious magazine. He struggles with the reality of his mother's death, alienation, and the seductive pull of drugs and a vibrant nightlife.
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Curiously, mundanely real
- By Amber on 01-07-12
By: Jay McInerney
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The Ramblers
- A Novel
- By: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
- Narrated by: Erica Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan - the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village - The Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley's sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.
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Lovely Portrait of The City
- By Dingo27 on 02-19-16
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The Family Fang
- By: Kevin Wilson
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist's work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents' madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents' strange world.
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Beautiful, Heart-wrenching, Shocking.
- By Amanda on 11-18-11
By: Kevin Wilson
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The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
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No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
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Strong Motion
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 20 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Louis Holland arrives in Boston in a spring of ecological upheaval (a rash of earthquakes on the North Shore) and odd luck: the first one kills his grandmother. Louis tries to maintain his independence, but falls in love with a Harvard seismologist whose discoveries about the earthquakes' cause complicate everything.
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Compelling Story, Ridiculous Narrator
- By DianeReads on 02-28-16
By: Jonathan Franzen
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Couldn't finish
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Outrageously funny and inventive.
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Bravo!
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Couldn't finish
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Under the Tuscan Sun
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Frustratingly naive main character (spoilers)
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In this romantic and comic story about class, language, and the art of reinvention, “Nebraska Jack" Rigel is about to quit his Latin studies program at the Vatican when he suddenly finds himself face-to-face with the mysterious and ethereal Angelina Amadio, the famous Angel of Rome. Hired to translate the romantic feelings of the unpredictable former TV detective Ronnie Tower, Jack must navigate these two forces of nature in a Rome of late night bars and fancy villas, as he searches for his own role to play.
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Highly recommended
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Australian accents
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A trio of second-born daughters sets out on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside to break the family curse that says they’ll never find love, by New York Times best seller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.
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You Will Not Be Disappointed
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The Postcard from Italy
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Italy, 1945. "Where am I"? The young man wakes, bewildered. He sees olive trees against a bright blue sky. A soft voice soothes him. "We saw you fall from your plane. The parachute saved you". He remembers nothing of his life, or the war that has torn the world apart...but where does he belong? England, present day. Antique-shop-owner Susannah wipes away a tear as she tidies her grandmother’s belongings. Elsie’s memories are fading, and every day Susannah feels further away from her only remaining family.
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Well told story.
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Peter Mayle once again returns to the beautiful but complicated world of Provence, to find that the highly competitive boutique wine trade has hidden depths that cannot be hidden by the sunny grape arbors above the ground. Mayle's usual fish-out-of-water British protagonist comes to inspect a Provencal vineyard left to him by his newly-dead uncle.
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Five stars aren't enough
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Better Luck Next Time
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Overall
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It's 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the "divorce capital of the world," Reno, Nevada. There's one catch: they have to wait six weeks to become "residents." Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need. Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything; now he's earning an honest living as a ranch hand. Admired for his good looks, Ward thinks he's got the Flying Leap's clients all figured out. But two guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows.
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The Author and Narrator Nailed it!
- By Naunie on 02-17-22
What listeners say about Beautiful Ruins
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- Dubi
- 05-10-16
Great Read, Great Listen
If you ever saw a cliffside or hilltop town in Italy or elsewhere, you had to wonder how such a jumble of houses and structures could cascade all over each other and exist on their steep, often forbidding perch. Launching his story from just a setting, a seaside town in the Cinque Terre, Jess Walter crafts a jumble of characters who cascade all over each other over the course of half a century.
In 1962, a beautiful actress off the set of Cleopatra, filming in Rome with Liz Taylor and Dick Burton, arrives at a sleepy hillside town spilling down the rocky cliffs to the sea. The owner of the only hotel in town, the Adequate View, befriends her, helps her deal with her problems, and figures out how to deal with his own issues. Fifty years later, he shows up at a movie studio in Hollywood in search of his long-lost friend.
Between the bookend stories of then and now, we meet a broad set of intertwined characters -- in addition to the hotelier and actress, we delve deeply into the lives of a famous producer, a legendary actor, an aspiring screenwriter, a used car dealer who failed as a writer, a production assistant at the crossroads, an addicted rock star fallen on hard times, and a colorful cast of supporting players.
These individual stories sometimes feel as if they were written separately and then stitched together into a novel, but if true, Walter has done so masterfully. His use of metaphor and irony is impeccable, his sense of whimsy rarely flags even when things get serious, and his primary locale in Italy will make you want to go for a visit. It would have been nice for Walter to narrate the book himself, as he had done in the past, but Edoardo Ballerini is excellent.
I read this book in print several years ago and jumped at the chance to listen to it when it showed up in an Audible sale. It lived up to my expectations in every way -- a great read, a great listen. Must not have made for a good movie though -- there's a trailer online for a film adaptation by the great director Ang Lee that was supposed to be released a couple of years ago, but nothing further about it. A bomb, like 1962's Cleopatra.
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- jack lichtenstein
- 08-14-12
imaginative, mind expanding book
This book spans fifty years in the lives of Dee Moray, Pasquale Tutzi and Martin Dean in Italy, Hollywood, Seattle and Idaho.Their lives change but they remain true to their character during the making and unmaking of the movie Cleopatra,while making responsible decisions with their lives, and finding love in the end. The concepts and language are all original but ring true. The only criticism is that the characters are all wasps. There is no ethnicity here.
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2 people found this helpful
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- b
- 08-13-12
good but not fantastic
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, if they didn't have anything else in their queue.
What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?
His accents and energy were perfect. He was a joy to listen to, absolutely delightful.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Margaret
- 08-30-12
Wonderful
What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?
I cannot recommend this wonderful novel too highly. I was engaged immediately by the settings, the characters, the story and the gentle compassion for flawed humanity that it conveys. Jess Walter considers the manner in which we seem to live in memories of the past or imaginings of the future. I can only say that while listening to this novel, I was entirely engrossed in my present.
What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?
This is an outstanding performance by Edoardo Ballerini. I will certainly buy this wonderful novel in hard copy, but I cannot imagine that I will enjoy it as much without Mr Ballerini's amazingly nuanced narration.
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- WWaltonG
- 08-11-12
Just loved this book - both story and performance
Really well crafted story told from point of view of the individual characters but seemlessly brought together by the author. This is one book where the narrator strikes the perfect balance between reading and performing the story. In fact, the narrator adds meaning that a reader might miss. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and this one is at the top of list.
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- Dawn
- 08-20-12
Enjoyable listen!
Would you consider the audio edition of Beautiful Ruins to be better than the print version?
I didn't read print version.
What did you like best about this story?
Skillfully intertwines several narratives.
What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Loved the voice and hearing the Italian spoken. Really nice narration.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I could have.
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- Harriet
- 08-20-12
Captivating cross-cultural and generational tale
Would you consider the audio edition of Beautiful Ruins to be better than the print version?
Yes. Ballerini's beautiful spoken Italian is transporting.
What did you like best about this story?
Most of all, I appreciate Walters' examination of the decisions made by, and formative events that impact, the characters in young adulthood, and how these choices and events shape their lives. His sometimes cynical, sometimes humorous exploration of the disparate cultures of an untouched Italian fishing village, the movie business, and to some extent, the modern day Pacific Northwest, is revealing and highly entertaining.
Which character – as performed by Edoardo Ballerini – was your favorite?
His portrayal of the chief protagonist, Pasquale, is very honest, vulnerable and touching.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. The storyline is not a page-turner, though it maintains momentum and holds one's interest to the very end.
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- Anne
- 02-09-13
Glad I hung in there
First let me say that, overall, I liked the book. Mr. Ballerini did a very good job with the narration overall, but the men were better than the women. I had no difficulty keeping track of characters after the first half hour or so.
I will advise you, however, to hang in there for the first part of the book. I had trouble "engaging" with it but once I did -after the story moved from Italy to Los Angeles - I became interested. Although I thought there were a number of points where a bit of editing would have improved the flow, all in all, the author does a good job of setting atmosphere and moving the story along. I wouldn't call it "best seller quality." But that's just my opinion. It's not "wow" material but it's worth both a credit and the time.
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- Gary
- 08-13-12
Not a book I would normally buy
If you could sum up Beautiful Ruins in three words, what would they be?
Compelling, contemplative, satisfying
What other book might you compare Beautiful Ruins to and why?
Not a book I would usually listen to, so don't have a lot to compare it to.
What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Loved that he didn't sound like he was acting, just read it so low key and charmingly, yet was never boring. I would never have read the names right, and he gave me a better feeling for the hotel keeper.
If you could take any character from Beautiful Ruins out to dinner, who would it be and why?
The son, just to hear his journey and what this life has taught him, and how he would have dealt with himself if he were the parent.
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- irishred507
- 10-16-12
Good concept but crass and profane
Any additional comments?
The best thing I can say about this audio book is that the narrator was phenomenal! I loved the concept of the story and the characters, however, I felt that the profanity and crassness took away from the potential beauty of the novel. Yes, that made it more realistic when portraying the characters, but I think that there are ways to do that without cheapening the literary quality with cussing and crudeness. I also found much of the character development to be long and drawn out with insignificant details to the point that I would get bored waiting until it got to the meat of the story.
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