Now That You Know

"One of the most important books about gay people yet published, Now that you Know is a challenging and enlightening guide for the 20 to 40 million parents in the United States who may be faced with the knowledge that a son or daughter is homosexual. It was written by two mothers of gay children and draws on dozens of candid interviews with gay men and women and their parents. The authors discuss the nature of homosexuality, its effect on the lives and careers of children, the prospects for gay relationships, and the troubling question of religion. They tell parents how to respond supportively to gay children and how to keep families together in a bond of understanding and affection. Finally, they describe the nationwide Parents of Gays groups, which encourage parents to share their experiences and learn to help one another."--Publisher's description.

Provides answers to trivia questions on the origins of common expressions and social conventions, covering such categories as politics, sports, religion, crime, and war.

Poised on the precipice of mystery and longing, each character in Now You Know It All also hovers on the brink of discovery—and decision. Set in small-town North Carolina, or featuring eager Southerners venturing afar, these stories capture the crucial moment of irrevocable change. A young waitress accepts an offer from a beguiling stranger; a troubled boy attempts to unleash the villain from an internet hoax on his party guests; a smitten student finds more than she bargained for in her favorite teacher’s attic; two adult sisters reconvene to uncover a family secret hidden in plain sight. With a sharp eye for rendering inner life, Joanna Pearson has a knack for creating both compassion and a looming sense of threat. Her stories peel back the layers of the narratives we tell ourselves in an attempt to understand the world, revealing that the ghosts haunting us are often the very shadows that we cast.

Praise for the Webby Award-winning newsletter: "I eagerly read 'Now I Know' every day. It's always fresh, always a surprise, and always interesting!" --Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and Wikia Did you know that there are actually 27 letters in the alphabet, or that the U.S. had a plan to invade Canada? And what actually happened to the flags left on the moon? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know. From uncovering what happens to lost luggage to New York City's plan to crack down on crime by banning pinball, this book will challenge your knowledge of the fascinating stories behind the world's greatest facts. Covering 100 outrageous topics, Now I Know is the ultimate challenge for any know-it-all who thinks they have nothing left to learn.

A National Bestseller! A new collection of the best Canadian trivia in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday. Just in time for Canada’s 150th birthday comes this collection of the best in Canadian questions and answers, covering history, famous Canadians, sports, word origins, geography, and everything in between. In these pages, you’ll learn the answers to questions like: Where did the word Canuck come from? How did an aristocratic French girl become a Canadian Robinson Crusoe? What famous explorer played hockey in the Arctic? Who was the first black woman elected to Canada’s Parliament? What unlikely team beat Canada for the gold medal for hockey in the 1936 Winter Olympics? How did the Halifax Explosion occur?

“Levin’s luminous latest reckons with the disorientation of contemporary America. . . . Through the fog of doubt, Levin summons ferocious intellect and musters hard-won clairvoyance.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review Dana Levin’s fifth collection is a brave and perceptive companion, walking with the reader through the disorientations of personal and collective transformation. Now Do You Know Where You Are investigates how great change calls the soul out of the old lyric, “to be a messenger―to record whatever wanted to stream through.” Levin works in a variety of forms, calling on beloveds and ancestors, great thinkers and religions―convened by Levin’s own spun-of-light wisdom and intellectual hospitality―balancing clear-eyed forensics of the past with vatic knowledge of the future. “So many bodies a soul has to press through: personal, familial, regional, national, global, planetary, cosmic― // ‘Now do you know where you are?’” “Dana Levin is the modern-day master of the em-dash.”—New York Times Magazine "The book weaves in and out of prose, and it’s no wonder that the haibun is the generative form in these pages. A form invented by Basho so that he could move from the prose of his travelogues to the quick intensities of haiku, back and forth. Emily Dickinson does the same thing in her letters. And because this is a poet of the western United States—born outside of Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave, then two decades in Santa Fe, now in middle America, St. Louis—maybe it’s right to think of her work in terms of storm clouds: if the prose is an anvil cloud, the flash of poetry at the end is lightning.”—Jesse Nathan, McSweeney’s

If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self, what would the letter say? In this moving collection, forty-one famous women write letters to the women they once were, filled with advice and insights they wish they had had when they were younger. Today show correspondent Ann Curry writes to herself as a rookie reporter in her first job, telling herself not to change so much to fit in, urging her young self, “It is time to be bold about who you really are.” Country music superstar Lee Ann Womack reflects on the stressed-out year spent recording her first album and encourages her younger self to enjoy the moment, not just the end result. And Maya Angelou, leaving home at seventeen with a newborn baby in her arms, assures herself she will succeed on her own, even if she does return home every now and then. These remarkable women are joined by Madeleine Albright, Queen Noor of Jordan, Cokie Roberts, Naomi Wolf, Eileen Fisher, Jane Kaczmarek, Olympia Dukakis, Macy Gray, and many others. Their letters contain rare glimpses into the personal lives of extraordinary women and powerful wisdom that readers will treasure. Wisdom from What I Know Now “Don’t let anybody raise you. You’ve been raised.” —Maya Angelou “Try more things. Cross more lines.” —Breena Clarke “Learn how to celebrate.” —Olympia Dukakis “You don’t have to be afraid of living alone.” —Eileen Fisher “Please yourself first . . . everything else follows.” —Macy Gray “Don’t be so quick to dismiss another human being.” —Barbara Boxer “Work should not be work.” —Mary Matalin “You can leave the work world—and come back on your own terms.” —Cokie Roberts “Laundry will wait very patiently.” —Nora Roberts “Your hair matters far, far less than you think” —Lisa Scottoline “Speak the truth but ride a fast horse.” —Kitty Kelley

The wife of the ex-governor of Massachusetts tells of her struggle to overcome her addiction to alcohol and pills.