Quiet

The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

By: Susan Cain

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Experience the book that started the Quiet Movement and revolutionized how the world sees introverts—and how introverts see themselves—by offering validation, inclusion, and inspiration

“Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a fascinating read, Quiet is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand the gifts of the introverted half of the population.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—People, O: The Oprah Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Inc., Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

©2012 Susan Cain (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

2013, Carnegie Medal, Long-listed

2012, Goodreads.com Readers Choice Award for Best Debut Author and Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, Winner

“As an introvert often called upon to behave like an extrovert, I found the information in this book revealing and helpful. Drawing on neuroscientific research and many case reports, Susan Cain explains the advantages and potentials of introversion and of being quiet in a noisy world.” (Andrew Weil, author of Healthy Aging and Spontaneous Happiness)

“Susan Cain has done a superb job of sifting through decades of complex research on introversion, extroversion, and sensitivity—this book will be a boon for the many highly sensitive people who are also introverts.” (Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person)

Lifechanging

Despite years of experience in the world of mental health, this book has influenced me enormously in thinking about myself and others.

Amazingly Insightful and Balanced

Loved listening to the book while on my daily walk. The narrator was easy and pleasant to listen to. So much goodness in here, that I will buy the Kindle version to have a searchable written reference.

This book should have been an article

While the book certainly contains interesting information and anecdotes, it is way too long. I am introverted and certainly learned some interesting information about myself, but after about 3 chapters the book felt extremely redundant.

Quality analysis with a rounded connection to reality

I enjoyed the data, a level of ease when relating personally, and the amount of “sense” I was able to make out of the many “why’s” in my life.

Enjoy the insights this book brings to your mental models.

Great resource

Very well written and great resource for parents and teachers. Also, great resource for understanding myself as well.

felt so seen by this read

I love Susan Cain and her work. Read Bittersweet earlier this year which lead me to Quiet. It did not disappoint, learned so much

BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED

I got this book after hearing the author interviewed on a Tim Ferriss podcast. She was fascinating to listen to and I pushed myself to get this book that I thought would just be about introversion. Boy was I wrong, it is about introversion, yet it’s about so many elements of psychology and humanity, and it helped me really understand myself more than I ever thought possible! Brilliant author! You’ve really changed my self perception and I’m not a spring chicken! Thank you!

Reminded me so much of myself.

The explanation of how introverts can be outgoing , but not for an infinite amount of time.

Excellent book for Introverts and Extroverts

What made the experience of listening to Quiet the most enjoyable?

Kathe Mazur did an excellent job of reading the text. Her voice is pleasant and captures the spirit of the writing.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Susan Cain took a great deal of care in identifying the history of extraversion in the U.S. She has also accumulated a great deal of research to identify the characteristics of introversion and the impact of the extraverted and introverted in society.

Have you listened to any of Kathe Mazur’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I had not heard Kathe Mazur previously.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

It was interesting to think that the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 might have been impacted by the predominance of extraverts in leadership at financial institutions. The idea being that extraverts rather than introverts were more likely to be promoted to executive positions and that this hiring practice happened over the last 20+ years. Extraverts have a higher tolerance for risk and greater need for financial reward; therefore, they were more willing to take more risk in order to receive a greater reward. Eventually, these high risk decisions collapsed and the financial markets tumbled.

Any additional comments?

I appreciate Cain's call to rethink the ubiquitous practice of group work/brainstorming and to realize that the need for quiet and solitude in the workplace is essential for many workers.

Must read

This book was very insightful and was amazing relatable. It explained a great deal about my own feelings and helped me to better interact with others. I suggest this book to everyone I can as I think it is very valuable information to people of a variety of facets of life.