spookykid posted:any info on the location of the photo? US? Canada? UK? AUS? United States. (I think it is either Florida or California because it sort of looks like a disneyland/world trip but that probably does not matter.)
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Jul 25, 2021 05:39
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Ramc posted:United States. (I think it is either Florida or California because it sort of looks like a disneyland/world trip but that probably does not matter.) I think that's the Orlando Sentinel on the table. I'm pretty positive it isn't a Stephen King novel. I'm decently familiar with covers of his stuff from the 1980s and that doesn't resemble any of them. Because of the back cover, I am wondering if it's a novelization of a film or TV show as the images might be photographs.
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Jul 25, 2021 06:14
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spookykid posted:any info on the location of the photo? US? Canada? UK? AUS? I thought it was edge staining at first, as was commonly done to paperbacks made with high-acid paper in that period to hide yellowing, but it’s not uniform in color on the section that’s already been read—I think you’re right that the pages are yellow with age instead.
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Jul 25, 2021 06:50
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spookykid posted:any info on the location of the photo? US? Canada? UK? AUS? That looks like a bar code on the back cover and they didn't start adding those to books until the mid-70s, so it's not as old as the yellowing might indicate.
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Jul 25, 2021 09:11
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I appreciate that the book is just so tantalizingly almost in focus.
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Jul 25, 2021 17:49
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Post it in the "What is this book?" thread in the Book Barn.
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Jul 25, 2021 18:34
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:Post it in the "What is this book?" thread in the Book Barn. If you do this, please be sure to post here if there's an answer! I'm combing through poo poo and it's maddening 
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Jul 25, 2021 22:25
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If SA people can't figure it out I'd recommend posting in Stack Overflow as well. They're great at identifying books/short stories based on descriptions and they'd more than likely point you in the right direction.
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Jul 25, 2021 22:42
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https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2704537&pagenumber=172#post516481369 On it, thanks.
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Jul 25, 2021 23:06
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Not mine, but I sure want to know what this book is: http://www.thecourieronline.co.uk/petrol-stein-or-the-modern-polybius-the-strange-world-of-internet-book-searching/ One thing I remember but have never been able to track down is a CGI documentary from around '08 or '09. It was about the evolution of life on earth, mostly pretty generic, but it ended with a weird "what if" segment about an alternate timeline where giant insects (I think hornets) ruled the world. I recall a few blogs reviewing/complaining about it, but have never been able to locate the relevant posts (they may have lost a lot of content when migrating between platforms).
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Jul 25, 2021 23:15
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CaptainBeefart posted:If SA people can't figure it out I'd recommend posting in Stack Overflow as well. They're great at identifying books/short stories based on descriptions and they'd more than likely point you in the right direction. I am not familiar with Stack Overflow.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:28
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Ramc posted:I am not familiar with Stack Overflow. https://stackexchange.com/ You can start here. Good to see you again Ramc, hope you're well.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:41
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spookykid posted:any info on the location of the photo? US? Canada? UK? AUS? No, that isn't acid-yellow, it's a printed edge. It's definitely a science-fiction publisher. Not DAW, because they always have yellow spines. It looks like Ace to me, in style, but my memory is off.
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Jul 26, 2021 02:44
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A river island in some european river that was a pirate sanctuary for some time. It no longer exists I think, likely flooded for power reasons
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Jul 26, 2021 03:49
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I think the mystery paperback is Alan Dean Foster’s Outland. I think my parents have a copy.
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Jul 26, 2021 04:13
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Domus posted:I think the mystery paperback is Alan Dean Foster’s Outland. I think my parents have a copy. Looking at internet pictures what I see doesn't quite match but who even knows if I am pulling up the correct editions. If you could get a pic of the back of their copy someday that would be pretty great tho.
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Jul 26, 2021 04:49
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Ramc posted:Okay I have kind of a tricky request. A family member of mine sent me this photo (cropped to remove people) and they are wondering if it is possible to figure out what the book on the table is. Time-wise the pic was taken around 1989 and is "probably sci-fi" I looked around at a bunch old sci-fi paperbacks and I think it's probably a Signet book, that dark cover with big white writing across the top was heavily featured across their scifi paperbacks.      It should be really easy to recognize by those 5 pillars on the back of the book, unfortunately finding pictures of the backs of old sci-fi paperbacks is a real pain in the rear end.
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Jul 26, 2021 05:37
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I've got no clue about any recent requests, or what the book is, but a few just-in-case searches have produced a ridiculous amount of fascinating book covers. All unremarkable inside, I'm sure, but those covers are still doing their job decades later by making me want to find out!
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Jul 26, 2021 08:26
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I'm super curious about the book now, because I spent an embarrassing amount of time staring at the blurry squished text to see if I could come up with any guesses as to the title. It definitely does look like the text is sloping upwards though, which helped me get a handle on why the cover looked a bit odd. Frustrating cause I guess the big words could also be the author's name... by the time I was done staring at it it started to look like Cyrillic though lol
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Jul 26, 2021 23:13
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That looks to me as if the front cover and spine are different colours. If we're assuming it's an old SF paperback, that's far more common with the ACE paperbacks than with other publishers. The Ace ed. of The Left Hand of Darkness eg
CommonShore fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 23:32
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The clear solution is to create a database of the back of books now along with the covers.
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Jul 27, 2021 01:29
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Not sure if I'm crazy or not, am I the only one who clearly sees 2 books in that picture? One is slightly resting on top of the other one.
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Jul 27, 2021 02:40
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MarioOnTheComputer posted:Not sure if I'm crazy or not, am I the only one who clearly sees 2 books in that picture? One is slightly resting on top of the other one. I think you're right
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Jul 27, 2021 03:00
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MarioOnTheComputer posted:Not sure if I'm crazy or not, am I the only one who clearly sees 2 books in that picture? One is slightly resting on top of the other one. Two books or that books spine is  broken in half and we are being used to track down a serial library loan spine cracker for the postmaster general
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Jul 27, 2021 03:11
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MarioOnTheComputer posted:Not sure if I'm crazy or not, am I the only one who clearly sees 2 books in that picture? One is slightly resting on top of the other one. I say, that is two books.
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Jul 27, 2021 03:14
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I don't think it is two books. For one, the "second book" on the right is too thin, even for an older book, and for the other it's got a really thin right edge bulking out in the middle as you move left and curving upwards towards the far left end, which is exactly what a set of pages would do if they were being torqued all to hell at the spine by the kind of literally Hitler that treats their books that way.
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Jul 27, 2021 03:57
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How do you preserve the spine of a paperback as you read? Mine always end up with a few creases on the spine.
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Jul 27, 2021 04:28
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Antifa Turkeesian posted:How do you preserve the spine of a paperback as you read? Mine always end up with a few creases on the spine. I read fast. No, seriously, I think that's the difference: if a book never spends long open at one page, it doesn't get a chance to crease. The only times my books crease are when I use one book as a bookmark for another.
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Jul 27, 2021 04:33
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Basically not opening it all the way to the spine, so it doesn't have the chance to crack; works for any book with a half-decent gutter. I never practised it; I just always read like that and I remember finding it really weird the first time I saw someone spreading a paperback with both hands like they were opening a ribcage.
Xotl fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Jul 27, 2021 |
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Jul 27, 2021 05:39
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What if there's a third book on the grassy knoll?
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Jul 27, 2021 07:05
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Title looks like "Campfire" to me. Obviously that's not it but I'm just posting so when it's revealed I can see how close I was. It does seem like a better photo/scan of the polaroid would possibly reveal the title. There's some artifacting making it tricky.
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Jul 27, 2021 13:33
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wa27 posted:It does seem like a better photo/scan of the polaroid would possibly reveal the title. There's some artifacting making it tricky. I will request one. Xotl posted:I don't think it is two books. For one, the "second book" on the right is too thin, even for an older book, and for the other it's got a really thin right edge bulking out in the middle as you move left and curving upwards towards the far left end, which is exactly what a set of pages would do if they were being torqued all to hell at the spine by the kind of literally Hitler that treats their books that way. I am pretty sure it is just one book, too. Also maybe the reader was just really into it who knows. The probable book reader passed like over a decade ago so no primary source to ask in any case.
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Jul 27, 2021 14:38
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Arrhythmia posted:https://stackexchange.com/ Hey! Yes, doin' well. Will bug them later today too.
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Jul 27, 2021 14:44
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25 years of environmental storytelling tells me the can of Coke was knocked over on the newspaper and a mild effort was made to clean it up. I have no idea how this is relevant but these are the skills I bring to the table. 
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Jul 27, 2021 16:37
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wa27 posted:It does seem like a better photo/scan of the polaroid would possibly reveal the title. There's some artifacting making it tricky. Yeah, any chance of a better scan or even the current one with less jpg artifacts or whatever?
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Jul 27, 2021 18:04
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Ramc posted:The clear solution is to create a database of the back of books now along with the covers. ISFDB has front covers, I don't know if they have back covers. But I got the bit in my teeth so I downloaded their db, found all novels published between 01JAN1970 and 31DEC1989 in English, and looked for ones with two words in the title, first word 7 or 8 characters, second word 4 or 5 characters. There were 299 hits: quote:Absolute Zero; Acapulco Gold; Addison House; Airship Nine; Alice's World; Altered Egos; America 2040; American Eden; American Glory; American Reich; Ancient Light; Angel's Tear; Another Eden; Another Shore; Another View; Antares Dawn; Archer's Goon; Ardneh's World; Arrow's Fall; Asgard's Heart; Atrocity Week; Baily's Bones; Barking Dogs; Barrier World; Becoming Alien; Beloved Exile; Boarders Away; Boarders Away!; Borrowed Time; Brainz, Inc.; Breaking Glass; Brother Earth; Brother Esau; Brother John; Brother Night; Burning Water; Caduceus Wild; Campbell Wood; Cannibal Cult; Cannibal Kiss; Catching Fire; Catholic Girls; Cemetery World; Cenotaph Road; Centaur Aisle; Central Heat; Certain Blood; Changing Times; Charmed Life; Charnel House; Child's Play; Citizen Phaid; Colonel Mint; Control Tower; Crooked House; Crooked Tree; Crystal Flame; Cugel's Saga; Curious Magic; Dancer's Luck; Darkness Comes; David's Sling; Dayworld Rebel; Deadeye Dick; Deadtime Story; Deadwood City; Death's Angel; Decision Time; Deepest Roots; Denner's Wreck; Destiny Doll; Destiny Past; Devil's Child; Devil's Deal; Devil's Moon; Devil's Peak; Devil's Race; Devil's Walk; Dinosaur Beach; Doomsday Clock; Dracula Began; Dragon's Blood; Dragon's Gold; Dragon's Milk; Dragon's Pawn; Dragon's Teeth; Dragons Past; Drowned Ammet; Druid's Blood; Duncton Found; Duncton Quest; Duncton Wood; Elephant Song; Emerald Eyes; Emerald Fire; Emlyn's Moon; Ender's Game; Engineer Menni; Entering Fire; Eternal Wind; Exile's Gate; Exile's Quest; Falling Angel; Falling Free; Farthest Star; Fenella Fang; Forcible Entry; Forever City; Freaks' Amour; Freddy's Book; Freedom Beach; Freedom Fight; Freezing Down; Freezing Point; Frontier Wolf; Galactic Girl; Galactic Plan; Galactic Rift; Garukan Blood; Genetic Bomb; Getaway World; Giants' Star; Gilpin's Space; Glahmian Shock; Goodman 2020; Gringol Weed; Guardian Ghost; Gublak's Greed; Guernica Night; Halcyon Drift; Hambro's Itch; Harlot's Ruse; Harvest Home; Haunted House; Heart's Blood; Heller's Leap; Hendra's Book; Homeward Bound; Horizon Alpha; Humanity Prime; Hunter's Moon; Identity Seven; Illegal Alien; Immortal Blood; Imperial Earth; Imperial Lady; Imperial Stars; Infinity Hold; Inverted World; Jericho Falls; Julian's House; Juniper Hill; Juniper Time; Jurassic Park; Justice, Inc.; Keeping Time; Keller's Bomb; Killer's Keep; Killing Eyes; Killing Time; Kingdom Come; Kirlian Quest; Lagrange Five; Logan's World; Lowland Rider; Ludlow's Mill; Madman's Army; Magic's Pawn; Magic's Price; Manitou Doll; Marion's Wall; Martin's Mice; Megan's Star; Merlin's Ring; Midnight City; Midnight Magic; Midnight Rogue; Missing Link; Mission: Tori; Monday's Child; Monster Maker; Morlock Night; Morrow's Ants; Moth-Kin Magic; Mother's Boys; Mystery Walk; Mythago Wood; Natural Enemy; Nemydia Deep; Nobody's Child; Nursery Tale; One-Man Army; Orbital Decay; Outward Bound; Paradox Alley; Passion Star; Phoenix Fire; Pinball, 1973; Precious Cargo; Prentice Alvin; Private View; Project Jove; Project Pope; Promised Land; Prostho Plus; Psychic Fair; Psychic Spawn; Quinn's Book; Rashanyn Dark; Ratner's Star; Razor's Edge; Rebel's Quest; Rebels' Seed; Reckless Robot; Recycled Souls; Reindeer Moon; Retread Shop; Reverend Mama; Rockabye Baby; Rubicon Beach; Sadar's Keep; Sailor's Blood; Salem's Child; Samurai Steel; Sapphire Road; Sarah's Nest; Satan's Manor; Satan's Seed; Satan's Spawn; Scoffing Marah; Scorpion Swamp; Sexualis 1984; Shadow's Realm; Sharra's Exile; Shield's Lady; Shifting Sands; Shining Steel; Showboat World; Shuttle Down; Sidney's Comet; Simon's Soul; Skeen's Leap; Slumber Party; Smith's Dream; Solution Three; Southern Cross; Sphynxes Wild; Spock's World; Squadron Alert; Stalker Lord; Stallion Gate; Starfall Muta; Starship Death; Starship Stud; Starship Women; Stellar Fist; Strange Eons; Strange Loop; Strange Seed; Strange Toys; Striped Holes; Suicide, Inc.; Sunrise West; Survival World; Systemic Shock; Tangled Webs; Target: Earth; Teach's Light; Tempting Fate; Tergan's Lair; Terminal Road; Thendara House; Thought World; Thunder Rise; Tornado Alley; Torture Tomb; Trader's World; Twilight Eyes; Uhura's Song; Ultimate World; Undying World; Unicorn Point; Ursula's Gift; Vampire Child; Vantage Hall; Virility Gene; Vulcan's Glory; Walking Dead; Wandor's Ride; Warrior Woman; Weasel's Luck; Welcome, Chaos; Wilkins' Tooth; Winding Sheet; Winter's Tale; Witch's Broom; Witchery Hill; Wizard's Bane; Zero-Sum Games Some of those are clearly not it but you never know.
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Jul 27, 2021 18:45
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I’m team Mother’s Boys.
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Jul 27, 2021 19:20
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fritz posted:ISFDB has front covers, I don't know if they have back covers. This is really cool, but the impression I had was that the title was one word and the smaller text directly underneath was the author's name. I assume it's title/author rather than author/title because if it was a big enough name I assume someone would have recognized it by now, but that's a guess. I cut out everything but the book and applied a bit of contrast, which helps a touch. The artifacting is really hurting this though.
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Jul 27, 2021 19:32
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Xotl posted:This is really cool, but the impression I had was that the title was one word and the smaller text directly underneath was the author's name. I assume it's title/author rather than author/title because if it was a big enough name I assume someone would have recognized it by now, but that's a guess. Yeah I was assuming the white text was the title. I interpreted the gap about 2/3rds of the way along to be a space, from my impressions of the rest of the font if it's not a space I don't know what letter would leave that kind of gap. Also here's the titles with a 7/3 and 8/3 split: quote:'Salem's Lot; Anaheim Run; Annerton Pit; Another End; Apollo's War; Atlanta Run; Beloved Son; Brother Gib; Capital Run; Charon's Ark; Citadel Run; Cocaine Run; Complex Man; Computer Eye; Conrad's War; Cuckoo's Egg; Dancing Vac; Death's Law; Demon's Eye; Demon's Law; Dragon's Egg; Esper's War; Fighting Men; Galaxy's End; Genetic Two; Houston Run; Howliday Inn; Howling Mad; Judgment Day; Liberty Run; Little, Big; Maiden's End; Manrissa Man; Memphis Run; Mercedes Ice; Midnight Boy; Midnight Man; Moonbase One; Mortorio Two; Nature's End; Personal War; Plastic Man; Pressure Man; Project God; Project Web; Putting Out; Quintana Roo; Raider's Sky; Rolling Hot; Rubicon One; Running Dog; Salem's Lot; Seattle Run; Seventh Son; Shadows End; Shoeless Joe; Skeleton Key; Superman III; Tachyon Web; Talking Man; Treasure Map; Universe Day; Upright Man; Weather War; Weetzie Bat; Witch's Eye; World's End If somebody with better eyes has a guess as to the distribution of letters, I'll produce more lists. ISFDB should have covers for these things too, and if nobody comes up with anything better I'll see if I can wrangle something there.
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Jul 27, 2021 21:35
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shadow puppet of a posted:I’m team Mother’s Boys.  And actually as I look at the isfdb listing: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?14451 I see that I'm not filtering out on pb/hc, as well as us/foreign, and Mother's Boys shouldn't have been in the list because it's first US paperback wasn't until later.
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Jul 27, 2021 21:39
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