Advice From America

A photo book with 1,000 photos of strangers and their advice about making the most of life created by artist and storyteller Imran Nuri. Starting in May of 2022, Imran lived in his Toyota Camry for 12 weeks while driving to all of the lower 48 US states in pursuit of photographing 1,000 strangers on a 50-year-old camera after asking them for a piece of life advice. The journey challenged every aspect of who he was. Talking to strangers was way beyond his comfort zone, he had never lived in a car before, he quit his job, and he used a combination of his entire savings, Patreon, and a personal loan to fund the cost of it all. Sleeping in rest areas, casino parking lots, Walmarts, and occasionally on friends' couches around the country, Imran planned his next destination each morning. His days were spontaneous, which was perfect for the serendipity he was looking for in meeting strangers. The end result is a series of 1,000 black-and-white portraits of people across America, each of whom shared a personal learning in their lives. Readers experience an inevitable pattern of universal keys to living a life well lived. In a time when divisiveness is more prevalent than ever, this series also seeks to show that despite our races, genders, locations, and more, we have more in common with the strangers around us than we think. The photos were made on a medium format film camera, the subjects were told to pose however they felt most comfortable, and just one photo was taken of each stranger.

In modern-day America, newspaper advice columns have become public forums for the discussion of human sexuality. Although questions posed to newspaper advice columnists ranges from matters of etiquette to intimacy, as they have for decades, increasingly most of the limited space in these newspaper features address issues that fall under a broader heading of sexuality. Questions about marital fidelity, dating and relationships, sexual practices, gender roles, and sexual taboos have all become "hot button" topics within the morally conservative mainstream press. In Confidential to America, David Gudelunas shows how, since the 1950s, advice columns have been one of the few consistent, mainstream, and widely available public forums for the discussion of topics severely restricted in other places.Newspaper advice columns serve as sites of discussion about sexuality within a larger culture that is severely divided on questions of how, when, and to what extent one may formally speak about sexuality. Even now, at the turn of the twenty-first century, high schools remain hesitant to devote more than a semester or two to formal discussions of sexuality. When they do, under current governmental policy and pressure, these discussions are often restricted to abstinence-only programs or what might be described as "non-discussions" of sexuality. Community-based sexual education programs are similarly restricted in their reach, funding, and, more often than not, effectiveness. In America in the twenty-first century, talking about sex in educational contexts is perceived to be almost as risky as having sex.Gudelunas demonstrates that while formal discussions of sexuality are strictly regulated and often thwarted, the informal curriculum of sexuality, particularly in the American mass media, has become ever more vocal on the topic of sex. From depictions conveyed through fictional and reality-based popular culture, to discussions taking place in the cafeteria (if not the classroom) and in Internet chat rooms, sexuality dominates our collective conscience.

Damn Good Advice (For People With Talent!) is a look into the mind of one of America's most legendary creative thinkers, George Lois. Offering indispensle lessons, practical advice, facts, anecdotes and inspiration, this book is a timeless creative bible for all those looking to succeed in life, business and creativity. These are key lessons derived from the incomparle life of 'Master Communicator' George Lois, the original Mad Man of Madison Avenue. Written and compiled by the man The Wall Street Journal called "prodigy, enfant terrible, founder of agencies, creator of legends," each step is borne from a passion to succeed and a disdain for the status quo. Organised into inspirational, bite-sized pointers, each page offers fresh insight into the sources of success, from identifying your heroes to identifying yourself. The ideas, images and illustrations presented in this book are fresh, witty and in-your-face. Whether it's communicating your point in nanosecond, creating an explosive portfolio or making your presence felt, no one is better placed than George Lois to teach you the process of creativity. Poignant, punchy and to-the-point, Damn Good Advice (For People With Talent!) is a must have for anyone on a quest for success.

To get the most out of your college education, you need to choose your classes wisely -- and increasingly, that means choosing STEM. Today's job seekers should have at least a basic understanding of trigonometry and other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects more than 1.3 million job openings in math and computer-related fields by 2022. The purpose of this book is not to push you into a STEM career; it is simply to provide you with information and perspective, as well as a few questions that, if answered honestly, will help you plot out an educational and career pathway that will help you achieve your dreams.

Seven days a week, year in and year out, Amy Dickinson has taken on life’s greatest and smallest questions. Her readers ask her about their relationship dramas, parenting dilemmas, and workplace complaints, offering a glimpse into the everyday and offbeat struggles we all sometimes confront. Amy responds with bracing honesty and gentle humor, presenting clear-eyed solutions to sometimes confounding problems. Her insights—and the weekly look into the lives of strangers—have kept readers turning to her column for almost two decades now. Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist collects some of the most intriguing questions and incisive responses from the Ask Amy column. Have you ever wondered whether your spouse was having a phone affair? Or what you could do about obnoxious gym-goers, coworkers, siblings, and children? Maybe, maybe not—but either way, Amy’s direct and no-nonsense thinking may help solve the problems you’re facing, too. Ask Amy is an essential and entertaining collection of advice, written in the tone of a best friend who gives the hard truth and a comforting hand in troubled times. Her readers’ questions may seem odd or unsolvable, but they’re a reminder that we all have problems we might need a little help fixing.

“Heartfelt and ever-endearing—equal parts information and inspiration. This is a book to keep by your bedside and return to often.”—Amy Dickinson, nationally syndicated advice columnist "Ask Amy" More than one thousand extraordinary Americans share their stories and the wisdom they have gained on living, loving, and finding happiness. After a chance encounter with an extraordinary ninety-year-old woman, renowned gerontologist Karl Pillemer began to wonder what older people know about life that the rest of us don't. His quest led him to interview more than one thousand Americans over the age of sixty-five to seek their counsel on all the big issues: children, marriage, money, career, aging. Their moving stories and uncompromisingly honest answers often surprised him. And he found that he consistently heard advice that pointed to these thirty lessons for living. Here he weaves their personal recollections of difficulties overcome and lives well lived into a timeless book filled with the hard-won advice these older Americans wish someone had given them when they were young. Like This I Believe, StoryCorps's Listening Is an Act of Love, and Tuesdays with Morrie, 30 Lessons for Living is a book to keep and to give. Offering clear advice toward a more fulfilling life, it is as useful as it is inspiring.

A bestselling economist tells us what both politicians and economists must learn to fix America's failing economic policies American economic policy ranks as something between bad and disgraceful. As leading economist Alan S. Blinder argues, a crucial cultural divide separates economic and political civilizations. Economists and politicians often talk--and act--at cross purposes: politicians typically seek economists' "advice" only to support preconceived notions, not to learn what economists actually know or believe. Politicians naturally worry about keeping constituents happy and winning elections. Some are devoted to an ideology. Economists sometimes overlook the real human costs of what may seem to be the obviously best policy--to a calculating machine. In Advice and Dissent, Blinder shows how both sides can shrink the yawning gap between good politics and good economics and encourage the hardheaded but softhearted policies our country so desperately needs.

The popular LGBTQ advice columnist and writer presents a memoir-in-essays chronicling his journey growing up as a queer, mixed-race kid in America's heartland to becoming the "Chicano Carrie Bradshaw" of his generation.