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

I first came across this book when I ordered the print copy for my library. It didn’t occur to me to read / listen to it at the time but it looked interesting. Little did I know!

I have always struggled with being a person who doesn’t like parties, who hates crowds and finds them exhausting, and who needs a lot of alone time to think and organize my thoughts. I couldn’t possibly be in introvert, however, because I know I am “On” when I’m in front of a crowd. I come across as confident and outgoing, even talkative. I have no problem speaking in front of a group of people. In my younger (much) days I made much needed extra money as a nude model for art classes. I have dabbled with acting classes in the past, and when I was young and living in Ireland, I made it to the front door of the Gaeity School of Acting (the National Theatre School of Ireland) before I chickened out and turned around. The person I described above couldn’t possibly be an introvert.

Yet, I definitely didn’t feel like an extrovert. I know I have a way of turning on my outgoing nature, it actually feels like I’m turning on a switch and this outgoing person takes over for a brief period. She can do anything! I used to fantasize about an invisible cave, floating high above parties. It’s filled with quilts, books, music, art, and me… and probably some popcorn or chocolate and ice cold Coke Zero, or Gingerbread Spice tea. In my cave I can float above the crowds and watch the people, see how they move, talk, interact with each other, but I never have to participate.

Recently, while idly clicking through some links on Twitter, I noticed that actor Mark Ruffalo had tweeted a link to a Huffington Post article with a quiz – 23 SignsYou’re Secretly an Introvert. I was dumfounded…. and just a little vindicated! The next day at work at the library I told my friend Wendy about this quiz I did and how shocked I was. Her response? “Duh, you should read this book….”

So, here I am.

This is the first non-fiction book I’ve listened to and I was a bit worried. I also placed a hold on the print copy at the library just in case. What helps make up for the lack of dragons and wizards is that reader Kathe Mazur is awesome. This is the first time I’ve listened to her and she’s quickly jumped onto my favourite readers list. She’s perfect for this book – reassuring and not patronizing, confident and light hearted, serious when she needs to be. The other thing that helps is Susan Cain’s writing – she’s just plain excellent. She has a very engaging and inviting way of manoeuvering through studies, facts and numbers and getting to the heart and humanity of an issue. Brilliant.

In this book Cain talks about how the current extrovert-driven culture undervalues introverts, and explains the physiological and psychological differences between the two. She also talks about how the two sides actually need each other, and function better together, but just require different styles of working. It’s almost like she’s explaining the care and feeding of your inner introvert. I was captivated by every story, and even every study she discussed because they related to real people like me.

One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that I take in this kind of factual information differently when it’s verbal than when I read it. Different pathways and I'm a visual learner. This is information I desperately want to absorb, so I actually invested in the ebook as well.  

Click on the Audible page here and you'll find a link to a sound bite of Kathe Mazur reading Quiet. 

Listen Up!

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, (10 hrs, 39 mins), Random House Audio, 2012