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)

Great study on introversion!

Myself being an introvert, I was drawn to this book. I often wonder why I'm reluctant to speak up or why I feel uncomfortable in large group settings. The author (herself an introvert) does an excellent job of analyzing and deconstructing the behaviors and mind sets of introverts. So many times, during the book, I felt like I was reading exactly about myself and my own experiences.
The author goes into detail on how better to understand introverts and ways in which to use their strengths for greater success.
The few marks against the book is that there a few areas (very few) where the author seems a tad biased towards introverts (as opposed to extroverts), but overall this was an excellent read.
Highly recommended for like-minded introverts and people that want to better understand introverts (Perhaps parents of introverted children. Spouses of introverts.).

Thank you Susan Cain

Made me feel less alone and a little more understood. I appreciate the author for having written this book. So much research and effort put into the chapters of this book.

great book, narration equal to the task

Wonderfully researched, well written. Introverts get their due without bashing their extrovert counterparts. Well done. Great narration. My preference was at 1.2 speed, but most of the Audible books are too slow for me.

Gave me so many insights to myself

Changed my life... more accepting and understanding of who I am. I've been taught this was the wrong way to be my whole life. Will treasure this book forever!

Pretty good!

This was chosen for a leadership book club at work and as an "introvert" I was very interested to go through this book. I think more time could have been spent on the cultural differences and the relationship interactions but overall pretty good. I think more could be said about the spectrum of introversion/extraversion as opposed to often referring to people as one or the other.

Introverts welcome.......Come on in.

Learned so much from this book! Lots of referenced studies and a nice break down of various types of personalities and temperaments. Plenty of supporting stories and a few humorous anecdotes thrown in for good measure. The biggest takeaway for introverts is coming away feeling good about some of your decisions and desires for comfort which don't quite fit into the extrovert view of our universe. For extroverts there will certainly be a deeper understanding of your peers, friends and family members who display an alternate view of what constitutes happiness, substance and even entertainment. Rated 4 instead of 5 due to; A.) The long format of the chapters where many topics are rolled into the same chapter. For an audio-book it makes it more difficult than it has to be to get to certain topics or re-listen to favorite sections. There could have easily been 3x the chapters. B.) Another production where the chapter numbers in the book do not follow the chapter numbers on your display. Says chapter 6 and shows chapter 9 as an example. Lastly C.) Although this is the easiest to disregard, there was a tad too much focus regarding public speaking which the subject matter came back to often when there were plenty of other subtopics to address or expand on.

highly recommend book and narrator

The narrator is perfect for this book, and for me personally. She speaks softly, yet with annunciation and conviction. The book itself was thought-provoking, sometimes stirring feelings of comfort, sometimes anger (not with the book), though that might not be true for everyone. It can be a bit tiresome to listen to large portions of the book at a time, since it is sometimes repetitive and the words "introvert" and "extrovert" are uttered in almost every sentence. Other than that, I really enjoyed Quiet and highly recommend it to people who wish to improve their understanding of other people, the world, or themselves.

If I Were President...

If I were the President I’d make this book required reading in all schools. Or at least I’d strongly encourage it. Susan Cain’s Quiet is a well formed gold mine of psychology, data and WISDOM applicable to every human. It is supported by endless research, interviews and anecdotes making it a powerful tool in explaining the depth of the introvert /extrovert landscape and to understanding yourself and others better. With this knowledge supported by every person throughout the formation of institutions and in the mechanics of our daily lives, we truly would have a better world. Thank you, Susan!!

Fascinating read!

I thoroughly enjoyed the thorough discussion of the cultural history, scientific thought by this author, along with her push for all people to take a new look at the positive side of those who are not overly outgoing and/or enjoy time alone.

Marvellous.

This book has definitely changed me. It is a mind medicine for introverts. I definitely recommend this book to be read by everyone, including parents and school teachers who look after introvert children.