Author Cain’s Quiet message has profound implications for every interpersonal interaction and every decision involving people ... many engaging stories ... Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking is a book to be read deliberately, slowly, reflected upon, reread, meditated upon, quietly considered. Employing the attributes of introversion to read about the implications of introversion may yield far higher payoffs than the fast skimming, hurry up, soundbyte, quick-read style of the extrovert ... One measure of an extraordinary book is that it prompts the reader to reframe his or her view of the world, to recognize and reaffirm patterns, to consider implications that might not have previously been entertained. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking is this type of extraordinary book.
I finished Quiet a month ago and I can't get it out of my head. It is in many ways an important book—so persuasive and timely and heartfelt it should inevitably effect change in schools and offices ... her suggestions on how to redress the balance and make the world a bit more introvert-friendly are charmingly cautious ... But sometimes her brilliant ideas aren't written quite so brilliantly. Her book can be a bit of a slog, not always a page turner. I wish she'd spent a bit more time adventuring and a bit less time analysing and philosophising and citing vast armies of psychologists ... Her thesis—built on the assumption that almost everyone in the world can be squeezed into one of two boxes— may topple if it turns out that loads of us are essentially ambiverts. I suspect there are a lot of ambiverts out there.
Although the entire book is interesting, useful, and entertaining, Part Four presents a wealth of examples and ideas to apply the information from the rest of the book. In this final section, Cain grabs readers’ attention ... Quiet is well written and would likely appeal to a wide audience, including psychologists, educators, parents, business professionals, and lay people. Psychology instructors could easily incorporate the book into the personality section of the Introduction to Psychology course and could obviously weave it throughout an entire Personality Psychology course. But Quiet would also be useful in most other psychology courses ... Cain’s book will speak volumes to you.
The part which wasn't convincing for me was when Cain was trying to stereotype according to region saying that the extrovert trait is 'less prevalent in Asia and Africa as compared to Europe and America.' But my gut feel says that it all boils down to an individual level as to whether he or she is an extrovert or introvert. In India, for example, I have seen plenty of extroverts. The Power of Introverts can be leveraged both by extroverts and introverts, and also by ambiverts (yes, there is such a term. It means a person who has traits of both extroverts and introverts). Extroverts and ambiverts can use this book to understand introverts and introverts can use this book to understand themselves.
A very slow, very enjoyable, completely dumbfounding, poleaxing, holy carp illuminating read. This book is amazing ... It's thorough, clear, thoughtful, and easy to read, with a balanced composition of scientific data and research, individual stories and accounts, and examples and suggestions.
For the introverted reader, some of the value of Quiet comes from normalizing our disposition and the coping mechanisms we use to get through the workday. For our extroverted friends, the book should also serve as a helpful explainer for the quieter third of the office. Not that we introverts can expect them to do all the work. Since I like my job—I’d call it a core personal project—I guess I should suffer the discomfort and invite the new guy out for coffee.
The author’s insights are so rich that she could pen two separate books: one about parenting an introverted child and another about how to make an introvert/extrovert relationship work. An intriguing and potentially life-altering examination of the human psyche that is sure to benefit both introverts and extroverts alike.
Cain consistently holds the reader’s interest by presenting individual profiles, looking at places dominated by extroverts (Harvard Business School) and introverts (a West Coast retreat center), and reporting on the latest studies. Her diligence, research, and passion for this important topic has richly paid off.
