Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
Essays
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Narrated by:
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Cate Blanchett
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Lauren Hough
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By:
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Lauren Hough
About this listen
A New York Times Best Seller
"A memoir in essays about so many things - growing up in an abusive cult, coming of age as a lesbian in the military, forced out by homophobia, living on the margins as a working class woman and what it’s like to grow into the person you are meant to be. Hough’s writing will break your heart." (Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist)
Searing and extremely personal essays, shot through with the darkest elements America can manifest, while discovering light and humor in unexpected corners.
As an adult, Lauren Hough has had many identities: an airman in the US Air Force, a cable guy, a bouncer at a gay club. As a child, however, she had none. Growing up as a member of the infamous cult The Children of God, Hough had her own self robbed from her. The cult took her all over the globe - to Germany, Japan, Texas, Chile - but it wasn't until she finally left for good that Lauren understood she could have a life beyond "The Family".
Along the way, she's loaded up her car and started over, trading one life for the next. She's taken pilgrimages to the sights of her youth, been kept in solitary confinement, dated a lot of women, dabbled in drugs, and eventually found herself as what she always wanted to be: a writer. Here, as she sweeps through the underbelly of America - relying on friends, family, and strangers alike - she begins to excavate a new identity even as her past continues to trail her and color her world, relationships, and perceptions of self.
At once razor-sharp, profoundly brave, and often very, very funny, the essays in Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing interrogate our notions of ecstasy, queerness, and what it means to live freely. Each piece is a reckoning: of survival, identity, and how to reclaim one's past when carving out a future.
A Vintage Original
©2021 Lauren Hough (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Lauren Hough's Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing is so brilliant, so humane and pissed off and hysterically funny and thought-provoking, and so beautifully written it's hard to describe except to say that it's a book that is going to mean a lot to a lot of people, and it might cause some fights, and you better read it so you can have the pleasure of reading it and the pleasure of talking about it with everyone. She is the kind of extraordinary writer who could make anything interesting; that these essays are about her own astonishing life, written with a clear eye and a sense of humor so quick and black it hurts, and a kind of ruthlessness for herself and others, means it's like no other book anywhere. I loved every sentence.” (Elizabeth McCracken, author of Bowlaway)
“Lauren Hough is the best new voice I’ve read in years: fiercely honest, funny, brazen, and unrepentant. Best of all, the propulsive storytelling of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing is anchored by an unexpected tenderness and vulnerability that will get you by the throat every damn time. Like a petulant cross between David Sedaris and Mary Karr, Hough is the genuine article. Leaving might not be the hardest thing, but leaving this vibrant, heart-wrenching memoir behind is damn near impossible.” (Heather Havrilesky, Ask Polly columnist and author of What If This Were Enough?)
"Lauren Hough’s extraordinary essay collection Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing is as powerful as it is poignant. So many moments in this exceptionally crafted essays brought me to tears and before long I would find myself laughing as Hough wielded her razor sharp wit. This is a memoir in essays about so many things — growing up in an abusive cult, coming of age as a lesbian in the military, forced out by homophobia, living on the margins as a working class woman and what it’s like to grow into the person you are meant to be. Hough’s writing will break your heart.... This is one of those rare books that will instantly become part of the literary canon and the world of letters will be better for it." (Roxane Gay, author of Difficult Women)
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Story
From the cow fields of Connecticut to the streets of San Francisco, Joe Clifford's Junkie Love traverses the lost highways of America, down the rocky roads of mental illness to the dead ends of addiction. Based on Clifford's own harrowing experience with drugs as a rock 'n' roll wannabe in the 1990s, the audiobook draws on the best of Kerouac and the Beats, injecting a heavy dose of pulp fiction as it threads a rollicking narrative through a doomed love triangle, lit up by the many strange characters he meets along the way.
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WOW! an inside look into an junkies mind
- By TinkerMel on 05-16-17
By: Joe Clifford
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This Might Get a Little Heavy
- A Memoir
- By: Ralphie May, Nils Parker
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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There was a time when Ralphie May was one of the biggest stand-up comedians in the country, both by ticket sales and by tonnage. While some things changed - Ralphie lost half his body weight - others did not: He will be remembered as one of the most successful comics of his time. Completed just months before his untimely passing, in This Might Get a Little Heavy, Ralphie takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of his life and career, one that winds across the country, over obstacles, beyond heartbreak, and through the golden age of stand-up.
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brilliant and tragic
- By Timothy Trujillo on 08-12-18
By: Ralphie May, and others
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Miss Fortune
- Fresh Perspectives on Having It All from Someone Who Is Not Okay
- By: Lauren Weedman
- Narrated by: Lauren Weedman
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Lauren Weedman is not okay. She's living what should be the good life in sunny Los Angeles. After a gig as a correspondent with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, she scored parts in blockbuster movies, which led to memorable recurring roles on HBO's Hung and Looking. She had a loving husband and an adorable baby boy. In these comedic essays, she turns a piercingly observant, darkly funny lens on the ways her life is actually not okay.
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Good
- By Ajules29 on 04-02-16
By: Lauren Weedman
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The Power of the Dog
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This explosive novel of the drug trade takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you've never seen it.
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Gripping Drama
- By Deborah on 01-06-11
By: Don Winslow
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Trejo
- My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
- By: Danny Trejo, Donal Logue
- Narrated by: Danny Trejo, Donal Logue
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. He’s been shot, stabbed, hanged, chopped up, squished by an elevator, and once, was even melted into a bloody goo. Off screen, he’s a hero beloved by recovery communities and obsessed fans alike. But the real Danny Trejo is much more complicated than the legend.
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The best book ever!
- By Nicolas Rocha on 07-08-21
By: Danny Trejo, and others
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Crash and Burn
- By: Artie Lange, Anthony Bozza
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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At a high point in his career, Artie Lange performed a sold-out show in Carnegie Hall-and he did it with a pocketful of heroin. In the midst of a deep, self-destructive depression, addicted to heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs, he lashed out at everyone around him-from his cohosts on The Howard Stern Show to celebrity guests and even his longtime friends. Then came his legendary meltdown on-air, with 6 million people listening, after which Lange pulled himself together enough to go to a buddy's bachelor party in Amsterdam.
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[Narrator Fail] Comic Genius+Depression+Drugs=Mess
- By Hilary on 11-07-13
By: Artie Lange, and others
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Bare Bones
- I'm Not Lonely If You're Reading This Book
- By: Bobby Bones
- Narrated by: Bobby Bones
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up poor in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, with a young, addicted mom, Bobby Estell fell in love with country music. Abandoned by his father at the age of five, Bobby saw the radio as his way out - a dream that came true in college when he went on air at the Henderson State University campus station broadcasting as Bobby Bones while simultaneously starting The Bobby Bones Show at 105.9 KLAZ.
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A look inside the narcissist life of Bobby Bones.
- By Selena on 05-20-16
By: Bobby Bones
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Wanna Bet?
- A Degenerate Gambler's Guide to Living on the Edge
- By: Artie Lange
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The two-time best-selling author, comedian, actor, and radio icon explains the philosophy that has kept his existence boredom-free since the age of 13 - the love of risk. An avid sports better and frequent card player, Lange believes that the true gambler gets high not from winning, but from the chaotic unknown of betting itself. He recounts some of his favorite moments, many of which haven't involved money at all. In this candid and entertaining memoir, he looks back at the times he's wagered the intangible and priceless things in life: his health, his career, and his relationships.
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who needs Artie (to read)
- By B. Wenners on 08-24-18
By: Artie Lange
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A Very Punchable Face
- A Memoir
- By: Colin Jost
- Narrated by: Colin Jost
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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If there’s one trait that makes someone well-suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch - metaphorically and, occasionally, physically. Told with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy - with a face you can’t help but want to punch.
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Amazing
- By Erin E. Kace on 07-27-20
By: Colin Jost
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You're Better than Me
- A Memoir
- By: Bonnie McFarlane
- Narrated by: Bonnie McFarlane, Alexander Cendese
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In the spirit of Mindy Kaling, Kelly Oxford, and Sarah Silverman, a compulsively listenable and outrageously funny memoir of growing up as a fish out of water, finding your voice, and embracing your inner crazy person from popular actress, writer, and comedian Bonnie McFarlane.
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Sandy!!! She wrote a book...it's crazy, a book!!!
- By Jonathan Placek on 03-02-16
By: Bonnie McFarlane
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Domestic Violets
- A Novel
- By: Matthew Norman
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned 35, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords....
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What a rollicking ride!
- By Pamela Harvey on 08-13-11
By: Matthew Norman
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Please Ignore Vera Dietz
- By: A. S. King
- Narrated by: Lynde Houck
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone - the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to? Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: Smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.
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Moving, disturbing, and humorous
- By Julie on 08-26-11
By: A. S. King
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I'm the One That I Want
- By: Margaret Cho
- Narrated by: Margaret Cho
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
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I'm the One That I Want, based on her show of the same name, is filled with dead-on insights about the experience of being a woman with attitude, of flowing with the highs and lows of life, and of creating one's own identity and acceptance. It is every bit as hilarious, shocking, and irreverent as she is.
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Hilarious and deeply engrossing
- By Ling on 04-10-03
By: Margaret Cho
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You're Making Me Hate You
- A Cantankerous Look at the Common Misconception That Humans Have Any Common Sense Left
- By: Corey Taylor
- Narrated by: Corey Taylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of the late, great George Carlin, Corey Taylor, the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour, sounds off in hilarious fashion about the many vagaries of modern life that piss him off. Whether it's people's rude behavior in restaurants and malls, the many indignities of air travel, eye-searingly terrible fashion choices, dangerously clueless drivers, and - most of all - the sorry state of much modern music, Taylor's humor and insight cover civil society's seeming decline.
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New perspective.
- By jeremy on 09-22-15
By: Corey Taylor
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Stories I'd Tell in Bars
- By: Jen Lancaster
- Narrated by: Jen Lancaster, John Fletcher
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Older, but not wiser, Lancaster goes back to basics in this hilarious essay collection about everything from taking community policing classes to accidentally getting high with her waiter after a fancy dinner. These are the tales she'd tell if she met you in a bar... if she weren't too lazy to put on pants and go to a bar. Offering advice ranging from how to remain happily married to a man who refuses to blow his damn nose already to not creating An Incident at the cheese counter during an attempt at Whole30, she's you, only louder.
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self absorbed
- By D D H on 06-15-19
By: Jen Lancaster
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The Boy Kings of Texas
- A Memoir
- By: Domingo Martinez
- Narrated by: Emilio Delgado
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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A lyrical and authentic book that recounts the story of a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas in the 1980s, as each member of the family desperately tries to assimilate and escape life on the border to become "real" Americans, even at the expense of their shared family history. This is really un-mined territory in the memoir genre that gives in-depth insight into a previously unexplored corner of America.
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It was Okay
- By DebKoo on 05-17-13
By: Domingo Martinez
What listeners say about Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Priscilla
- 12-06-21
This memoir is personal to the marrow.
I fell in love with Lauren Hough while listening to her memoir Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing. I fell in love with her thinking. Her pain. The way she adapts to her world. The harshness of her. The vulnerable parts of her.
I fell hard. I’m still in love. I will probably never get over her.
In Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing, Hough writes of her childhood being born into The Children of God cult and being a closeted lesbian as an adult.
This memoir is personal to the marrow. It’s so brutally honest that it seems like Hough doesn’t see the brutality of her childhood. To Hough, it just was her childhood.
My only complaint is that the actress Cate Blanchette read a couple of chapters. That was unneeded and unwanted. I loved listening to Hough narrate. When Hough was narrating her memoir, it felt like I was in a room with Hough sharing a six-pack of beer at the end of a very long day.
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- Jzmc11
- 06-07-21
difficult but rewarding
narrators were very good..story is difficult but rewarding. thank you for writing this, Lauren Hough.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Krysti
- 07-01-22
What A Trip
The honesty in this book is refreshing. Tough and refreshing.
The author takes us on her unique journey through life. A cult, the military, being gay, making friends, a car fire, work experiences. One of the most memorable moments for me was finding out what a girl does when she's broke and mugged.
I laughed, I didn't cry (just kidding, I might have), I felt concern, I felt relief. I enjoyed it. I very much look forward to Lauren Hough's next publication.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lisa R.
- 03-15-23
Honest and brilliant
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started. What a ride. Heartbreaking, brutal, and honest. I loved and cried for the whole ride. Thank you.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kellie Reviews
- 05-04-21
unpopular opinion
I loved the book. Lauren thank you. Write more. Forget your critics. Power on always.
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4 people found this helpful
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- andrea p clark
- 04-30-21
Wow
Great book of essays. Hough has a natural voice, which lends itself to telling her story.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Faith
- 01-08-23
Survivor Story
Really well written. I like how the author jumped around through timelines and wove it all together. Really a difficult subject to write about. Well done! Great narration as well.
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1 person found this helpful
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- H. Shockey
- 09-17-21
Amazing Debut Novel!
Raw, funny, and Insightful. Hough's life experience laid out, but it's her understanding of the world, depression, and hope that keeps you turning the page.
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- Merrily
- 05-15-21
Beautifully done.
So beautifully written, sad, poignant, and at times funny. It makes you face the realities of the marginalized in society. What a journey Lauren has been through.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Book Reviews
- 04-29-21
Radical Honesty From a True Artist
This is a great audio book -- I generally don't like when authors read their own work but preferred the voice of Lauren over that of Cate Blanchett. Cate is a fantastic actress and does a wonderful job but Lauren's voice added to the honesty stacked on honesty of these essays.
This books has some controversies due to some responses by Hough to her readers. I understand that members of Goodreads are upset with Lauren for some unnecessary verbal assaults on readers who actually liked her book, but that does not diminish that this is an exceptional collection of essays written with a searing honesty from an original and needed voice. I am not surprised that the author insulted her supporters -- this would be typical of the self-sabotaging behavior she describes, something rooted in her very complex upbringing as a gay female raised in the Christian sex cult, The Children of God. Ms. Hough was mistaken to insult her readers but it does not diminish the power of her writing and the extraordinary content of this beautifully written book. It's a portrait of Lauren's bizarre, marginal upbringing and the consequent emotional damage and loneliness that follows in trying to find a better place.
I love books that are confessional and have emotional and factual honesty and in this regard, this book is 1000% successful. I also love books that transport me to different worlds -- inner worlds -- and take me to places I don't know which is the other way this book succeeds. My mind is expanded after getting a look inside that of this author. She also takes on one of my great fascinations: the dynamics of cults and she writes about them as an insider. Her observations on cults and religions aren't likely to sit well with those who belong to one.
I can no longer watch films by Woody Allen, someone I once deeply admired, after learning about his behavior with his own child and other minors. Every time I see a painting by Picasso it's marred for me because of his infamous abusive behavior. Lauren Hough made the mistake of insulting her readers which is hardly the same thing. If she wants to apologize for how she responded, I would welcome that and so would her readers. But knowing what she's been through I do understand why she is the way she is. Her rudeness cannot take away from the quality of these essays.
This is a genuine artist speaking her truth.
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