By Susan Cain

Place: Publisher & Year: New York: Crown Publishers, 2012

Genres: Nonfiction, psychology, personality

ISBN: 9780307352149

Intended audience: Adult

Number of pages: 333 (including Notes and Index).

Setting: Various locations in the USA

Time period: Contemporary

Description:  Cain examines the differences between introverts and extroverts, including various roles played by both in society.  She also examines how culture influences temperament types for better and for worse and how Western culture undervalues introversion.

Appeal factors:

Pacing: Fairly quick pace.  Interviews and observations are intermixed with scientific discussion in a flowing, easy to read manner .

Characterization:  The majority of the book is written in third person, however, the author does write in first person when offering personal experiences.  Cain refers to various historical figures, scientists, and researchers, but there are no main characters.

Frame: The title sets the frame.  Introverts have much to offer the world, but they are often overlooked and not heard by the world.

Story line: A third to half of all humans are introverts, but Western culture is biased towards extroverts.  How do introverts not only survive, but thrive in environments which are not designed for their needs?

Subject headings:

From Pima County Public Library:

Introverts.

Introversion.

Extroversion.

Interpersonal relations.

Similar works:

For better: the science of a good marriage by Tara Parker-Pope

Decoding love: why it takes twelve frogs to find a prince and other revelations from the science of attraction by Andrew Trees

Alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other by Sherry Turkle

Personal notes:  I’m very glad to have read this book.   I found it very insightful.  It’s too bad that it wasn’t written thirty years ago and I could have read it as a teenager – it would have made my life easier throughout the years to know that many of my struggles with socializing are much more common than I thought.

Other: Diversity – introverts, extroverts, ambiverts

Susan Cain’s website for the book

Susan Cain’s TED talk