Quiet

I wish I'd had Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain when I was in high school. Or maybe middle school. Or even elementary school when one of my teachers told me I was different.

I didn't need this book to tell me I'm an introvert; I already knew that. But it did explain a lot of the qualities I have that I didn't recognize as part of my introversion. This book explains the research behind introversion and extroversion in an clear, interesting and readable way. Cain explains why we undervalue introverts in American culture and how introverts often undervalue themselves often wishing they could be more like the extroverts. People, mistakenly, believe that extroverts are smarter, work harder, and are more attractive than introverts. Cain also gives insights into how our society can appreciate and work with introverts to the benefit of everyone. She profiles introverts who created beautiful art and invented things we all use everyday, such as the personal computer. We have something to offer! Who knew!

Mostly this book gave me "permission" (for lack of a better word, I guess) to be myself and to use these qualities rather than fight my natural instincts and to stop thinking I should fix myself. This is a wonderful book for anyone who is an introvert or knows an introvert, so basically everybody.

Amazon has Q & A with Susan Cain. Scroll down the page.