A list of books whose book designs or inherent literary structure pushed limits at the time of their publication, or whose book designs are well-known for their incredible artistry.
1

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4.09 avg rating — 208,214 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 29,608 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 272,677 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 115,267 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 438,327 ratings
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6

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3.83 avg rating — 3,809 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 96,927 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 59,161 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 77,429 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 22,070 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,619,743 ratings
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12

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4.09 avg rating — 100,283 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 140,319 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,941,059 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 163,247 ratings
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16

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4.03 avg rating — 1,516,290 ratings
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17

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3.23 avg rating — 5,937 ratings
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18

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3.88 avg rating — 8,777 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 60,740 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,072 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 190,908 ratings
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22

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4.19 avg rating — 50,554 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,419 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 784,335 ratings
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25

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4.11 avg rating — 564,868 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,777 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,276 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 225,107 ratings
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29

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3.72 avg rating — 23,199 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 957,975 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,456 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 253,686 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 199,378 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 48,000 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,112 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 217,841 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 184,747 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,266 ratings
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39

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3.77 avg rating — 367,745 ratings
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40

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4.65 avg rating — 98 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,495 ratings
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42

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3.54 avg rating — 71,318 ratings
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43

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3.92 avg rating — 7,530 ratings
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44

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3.96 avg rating — 115 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 341,066 ratings
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46

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4.35 avg rating — 1,007 ratings
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47

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4.49 avg rating — 3,937 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 663,125 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,352 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 88,953 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 37,840 ratings
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52

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4.22 avg rating — 255 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 363,776 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 70,641 ratings
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55

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3.64 avg rating — 174 ratings
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56

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3.70 avg rating — 160,298 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 75,867 ratings
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58

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4.57 avg rating — 175 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 595 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 28,177 ratings
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61

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3.86 avg rating — 1,162 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 8,313 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,795 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,251 ratings
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66

by
3.72 avg rating — 191,363 ratings
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67

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4.17 avg rating — 60,055 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 377,360 ratings
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69

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4.17 avg rating — 10,450 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 193,294 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 446,798 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 23,134 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 44,287 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,895 ratings
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76

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4.54 avg rating — 112 ratings
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77

by
3.92 avg rating — 62 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 7,014 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 56,137 ratings
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79

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,789 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 101,425 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 44,836 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 10,053 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,634 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 55,538 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,323 ratings
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87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.92 avg rating — 347 ratings
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89

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 205 ratings
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90

by
4.29 avg rating — 358 ratings
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90

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,819 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,399 ratings
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90

by
4.59 avg rating — 22 ratings
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94

by
3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 11,741 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,235 ratings
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97

by
4.17 avg rating — 297 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,490 ratings
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98

by
3.73 avg rating — 294,972 ratings
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306 books · 551 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
497 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 757 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 581 books
52 friends
Kae 866 books
100 friends
Victoria 142 books
102 friends
Riona 1943 books
66 friends
Logophile 1007 books
15 friends
Alison 358 books
38 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Why isn't the book Night Fim on this list? It should definitely be added!


message 2: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Night Film? Agreed, it looks terrific! I haven't read it yet, but I've added it to the list. You can add books, too, and/or vote for them/others to move them up in the order. Thanks for mentioning Night Film!


message 3: by Michelle (new)

Michelle I haven't actually read these books yet, but they certainly have intriguing design. There's Tristano, a novel that is printed in different order every copy, and also 10,000 Ghost Stories.
It doesn't look like Tristano is all that well received, but that's not a criteria, is it?


message 4: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Well received or actually being good is not a criteria--I imagine this to be a list of books pushing boundaries and often those are failed experiments (in terms of final impact) yet still great opportunities for others to study them and learn from them. Thanks for the comment!


message 5: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I'm not sure "The Road" really pushed boundaries, at least at the time it was published. Maybe it would have in the 19th century. What does it do besides not use quotation marks for dialogue?


message 6: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Thanks, Lobstergirl, I haven't read it myself. Do you recommend I remove it?


message 7: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Yes, I don't really think it's innovative in terms of design or structure. It's a good book though.


message 8: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Yeah, I've been very much meaning to read it, but...being already familiar with the story it's hard to get excited about it. Thanks for the tip! I'll remove it from the list.


message 9: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Oh, looks like the joke's on me--I can only remove the books I voted for, which probably still only removes the vote I contributed. So it looks like this book is here to stay. Working on an experimental fiction course, though, and I'll definitely remove it from the list of works for students. Thanks again!


message 10: by Andrea (new)

Andrea Not sure that Eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer belongs on this list... I haven't read it though, so perhaps it does.


message 11: by Vincent (new)

Vincent Quiquempoix You definitely can add all the comics from Marc Antoine Mathieu like the Julius Corentin Acquefaques series.
Unflattening from Nick Sousanis , which is a phD thesis on comics in form of a comic book, my preferred one.
Un cadeau , which is a comic book you unfold that is destructible


message 12: by Mark (new)

Mark Pettit Saving this to my history


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