The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World

Customer Reviews

The author might have avoided some of the reductive generalizations by focusing less on "introverts" and more on "introversion" as a common human experience (not the least of the reasons that "Hamlet" remains the world's most popular play). By insisting on two personality types, Laney creates a profile that is likely to be unrecognizable to many readers who may have considered themselves candidates for the "introvert advantage." For example, she asserts that introverts are overwhelmed not only by social gatherings and meetings but by public places such as malls and casinos. But is the latter aversion due to introversion or is it a "phobia"? As enervating as an introvert may find public performance or thinking on his feet, he may find the "anonymity" of crowds, ballparks and the like energizing if not exhilarating. (The author explains how she stayed in her hotel room while her extrovert husband prowled the casino downstairs. On the other hand, while my extrovert spouse remained in her hotel room reading a math book, this shy introvert made the rounds of every casino on the strip.)

The author seems to think that the greatest challenge an introvert might confront is attending a social party, while overlooking the more real concerns of the introvert: fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of being "seen through" (the "J. Alfred Prufrock" syndrome). More case studies, more examples, more attention to the work of "existential" psychologists such as R. D. Laing or Kierkegaard himself ("truth is subjectivity") would certainly seem preferable to the do's and don'ts. On the other hand, the book may be helpful to readers who have not as yet connected there "tiredness problem" with their personality type.

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