Hell-Bent
Obsession, Pain and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Bikram Yoga
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Hell-Bent
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Narrated by:
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Ben Lorr
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By:
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Benjamin Lorr
About this listen
Author Benjamin Lorr wandered into a yoga studio - and fell down a rabbit hole. Hell-Bent explores a fascinating, often surreal world at the extremes of American yoga. Benjamin Lorr walked into his first yoga studio on a whim, overweight and curious, and quickly found the yoga reinventing his life. He was studying Bikram Yoga (or "hot yoga") when a run-in with a master and competitive yoga champion led him into an obsessive subculture - a group of yogis for whom eight hours of practice a day in 110-degree heat was just the beginning. So begins a journey.
Populated by athletic prodigies, wide-eyed celebrities, legitimate medical miracles, and predatory hucksters, it's a nation-spanning trip - from the jam-packed studios of New York to the athletic performance labs of the University of Oregon to the stage at the National Yoga Asana Championship, where Lorr competes for glory.
The culmination of two years of research, and featuring hundreds of interviews with yogis, scientists, doctors, and scholars, Hell-Bent is a wild exploration. A look at the science behind a controversial practice, a story of greed, narcissism, and corruption, and a mind-bending tale of personal transformation, it is an audiobook that will not only challenge your conception of yoga, but will change the way you view the fragile, inspirational limits of the human body itself.
©2012 Benjamin Lorr (P)2014 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
When Amy B. Scher was struck with undiagnosed late-stage, chronic Lyme disease, the best physicians in America labeled her condition incurable and potentially terminal. Deteriorating rapidly, she went on a search to save her own life - from the top experts in Los Angeles and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to a state-of-the-art hospital in Chicago. After exhausting all of her options in the US, she discovered a possible cure - but it was highly experimental, available only in India, and had as much of a probability of killing her as it did of curing her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great comfort
- By Sue on 07-07-18
By: Amy B. Scher
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The Book of Help
- A Memoir in Remedies
- By: Megan Griswold
- Narrated by: Megan Griswold
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 290
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 255
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 255
A hilarious and heartbreaking memoir-in-remedies by a self-described "professional soul-searcher" that details a journey of self-discovery through more than 160 tonics, seminars, regimens, and transformative therapies. With a voice that is at once intimate and hilarious, Megan captures the openness and honesty necessary for people to take a new path in life. Listeners will open the audiobook with curiosity about all the different healing therapies that Megan tries, but leave with a new understanding of themselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has some serious competition!
- By Elisa R. Goodman on 02-15-19
By: Megan Griswold
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Expecting Adam
- A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
- By: Martha Beck
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
From the moment Martha and her husband, John, conceived their second child, all hell broke loose. They were a couple obsessed with success. After years of matching IQs and test scores with less driven peers, they had two Harvard degrees apiece and were gunning for more. But the dream had begun to disintegrate. Then, when their unborn son, Adam, was diagnosed with Down syndrome, doctors, advisers, and friends in the Harvard community warned them not to keep the baby.
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5 out of 5 stars
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True Life Fairy Tale
- By Desarae on 11-27-13
By: Martha Beck
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Not Fade Away
- A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found
- By: Rebecca Alexander, Sascha Alper
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Thirty-four-year-old Rebecca Alexander is a psychotherapist, a spin instructor, a volunteer, and an athlete. She is also almost completely blind, with significantly deteriorated hearing. Not Fade Away is a deeply moving exploration of the obstacles we all face-physical, psychological, and philosophical. Rebecca's story is an exquisite reminder to live each day to its fullest.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Loved this!
- By Daryl on 11-24-14
By: Rebecca Alexander, and others
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Raising the Barre
- Big Dreams, False Starts, and My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker
- By: Lauren Kessler
- Narrated by: Hollis McCarthy
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 48
When Lauren Kessler was 12, her ballet instructor crushed not just her dreams of being a ballerina but also her youthful self-assurance. Now, many decades and three children later, Kessler embarks on a journey to join a professional company to perform in The Nutcracker. Raising the Barre is more than just one woman's story; it is a story about shaking things up, taking risks, and ignoring good sense and forgetting how old you are and how you're "supposed" to act.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Smug
- By Claudette on 02-07-20
By: Lauren Kessler
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Cat Daddy
- What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean
- By: Jackson Galaxy, Joel Derfner
- Narrated by: Jackson Galaxy
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,017
In this book, Galaxy tells the poignant story of his 13-year relationship with a petite gray-and-white short-haired cat named Benny, and gives singular advice for living with, caring for, and loving the feline in your home. When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician with not too much more going on than a part-time job at an animal shelter and a drug problem. Benny's previous owner brought the cat to the shelter in a cardboard box to give him up.
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5 out of 5 stars
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10 Stars!!!
- By Dawn J on 12-04-12
By: Jackson Galaxy, and others
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On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story5 out of 5 stars 65
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
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Don't Leave Me This Way
- Or When I Get Back on My Feet You'll Be Sorry
- By: Julia Fox Garrison
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
Julia Fox Garrison refused to listen to the professionals she called Dr. Jerk and Dr. Panic, who - after she suffered a massive, debilitating stroke at age thirty-seven - told her she’d probably die, or to Nurse Doom, who ignored her emergency call button. Instead she heeded the advice of kind, gifted Dr. Neuro, who promised her he would “treat your mind as well as your body.” Julia figured if she could somehow manage to get herself into a wheelchair, at least she’d always find parking. But after many, many months of hospitalization and rehab, Julia not only got into a wheelchair, but she got back out.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heroic Story
- By Pamela Harvey on 02-29-12
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My Year with Eleanor
- A Memoir
- By: Noelle Hancock
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
After losing her high-octane job as an entertainment blogger, Noelle Hancock was lost. About to turn 29, she'd spent her career writing about celebrities' lives and had forgotten how to live her own. Unemployed and full of self-doubt, she had no idea what she wanted out of life. She feared change - in fact, she feared almost everything. Once confident and ambitious, she had become crippled by anxiety, lacking the courage required even to attend a dinner party - until inspiration struck one day in the form of a quote on a chalkboard in a coffee shop.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Right on time!
- By Leah on 02-19-18
By: Noelle Hancock
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Fierce
- How Competing for Myself Changed Everything
- By: Aly Raisman
- Narrated by: Natalie Roy Camargo, Aly Raisman
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 344
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 298
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 296
Discover Aly Raisman's inspiring story of dedication, perseverance, and learning to think positive even in the toughest times on her path to gold medal success in two Olympic Games - and beyond. Aly Raisman first stepped onto a gymnastics mat as a toddler in a "mommy and me" gymnastics class. No one could have predicted then that 16 years later, she'd be standing on an Olympic podium, having achieved her dreams.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent gymnastics memoir
- By Brittany Cook on 11-21-17
By: Aly Raisman
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Running Like a Girl
- Notes on Learning to Run
- By: Alexandra Heminsley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 752
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 680
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 681
Until five years ago, Alexandra Heminsley was decidedly not a runner. Nor was she athletic in any sense of the word. She was an ordinary, curvy woman who was convinced that sports of any kind, especially running, were beyond her. But she's made running part of her life, and gets to reap the rewards: not just the obvious things, like a touch of weight loss, health and glowing skin, but self-belief, and immeasurable daily pleasure.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Meh... not what I thought...
- By Maria on 12-03-14
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Fear Less
- Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction
- By: Dean Sluyter
- Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
These days there's so much fear in the air, you can almost taste it - along with all the varieties of anxiety, anger, and addiction that grow out of it. How can you navigate your way through the fear and confusion, and find your way to peace? In Fear Less, acclaimed teacher and award-winning author Dean Sluyter shows how to use simple meditative techniques and subtle tweaks of body, mind, and breath to open your life to deep, relaxed confidence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Omfg this is so good!
- By Sergio on 05-10-18
By: Dean Sluyter
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Open
- An Autobiography
- By: Andre Agassi
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,817
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,527
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Story5 out of 5 stars 6,510
From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography. Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just an Incredible Story!
- By Patrick on 12-13-09
By: Andre Agassi
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An Intimate Life
- Sex, Love, and My Journey as a Surrogate Partner
- By: Cheryl Cohen-Greene
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
For the past 40 years, Cheryl Cohen Greene has worked as a surrogate partner, helping clients to confront, consider, and ultimately accept their sexuality. In this riveting memoir, Cohen Greene shares some of her most moving cases, and also reveals her own sexual coming-of-age. Beginning with a rigid Catholic upbringing in the 1950s, where she was taught to think sex and sexual desires were unnatural and wrong, Cohen Greene struggled to reconcile her sexual identity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Tender Memoir of a Sex Surrogate
- By Susie on 12-06-12
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Course Correction
- A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX
- By: Ginny Gilder
- Narrated by: Janis Ian
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4 out of 5 stars 37
From her first strokes as a novice, Ginny Gilder found herself in a new world, training with Olympic rowers and participating in the famous Title IX naked protest, which helped define the movement for equality in college sports. Short, asthmatic, and stubborn, Gilder made the team against all odds and for the next 10 years devoted herself to answering a seemingly simple question: how badly do you want to go fast?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Every young woman should read this book
- By BCE on 11-13-17
By: Ginny Gilder
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Way of the Peaceful Warrior
- A Book That Changes Lives
- By: Dan Millman
- Narrated by: Dan Millman
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,791
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,099
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,098
This audio edition of the international best seller Way of the Peaceful Warrior is based on the story of Dan Millman, a world-class gymnast who has it all, but is troubled by a vague sense of dissatisfaction with his everyday life. He meets an eccentric old mentor named Socrates, who sets him on a spiritual odyssey that will ultimately deliver or destroy him. Along the way Dan encounters realms of light and darkness, of romance and magic, as he learns what it means to live as a peaceful warrior.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My Favorite Audiobook
- By Knucks on 01-06-10
By: Dan Millman
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Laughing at My Nightmare
- By: Shane Burcaw
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 566
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 505
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 505
With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw's Laughing at My Nightmare describes the challenges he faces as a 21-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful and unflinchingly honest
- By Abby Goldsmith on 11-09-14
By: Shane Burcaw