A Brief P.S.

Today, I finally got around to finishing Quiet. I finished it in two installments. I read the majority on my favorite bench in Chicago.

It's a place perfectly suited to contemplation. Indeed, if I had been invited to contribute an essay to the hypothetical volume of essays I mentioned in my previous post on this topic, I would probably have written it sitting on that bench.

But enough about that.

In the end, I came around. Reality never quite measured up to expectation, but Cain did shift focus from society to the individual, and that certainly helped my enjoyment of the book. Like Cain (and I don't want to spoil anything here for those who haven't read Quiet and intend to, so I'm about to be vague), the theory I found most revelatory and most applicable to daily life was Professor Little's Free Trait Theory. You may sometimes act out of character and against type, but it's worth it in the service of something you really, really care about, even if it leaves you exhausted and hiding in the bathroom.

Which brings me to my next point! Only 10% sarcastic kudos to Cain for acknowledging the Universal Hiding in the Bathroom Principle. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's okay, it takes all kinds!)

Thanks, also, for:
1) The guy at Claremont McKenna who got up early "just to savor time alone with a steaming cup of coffee." Replace tea, and you've got my life now.
2) "...the life of the mind." My mother, once again vindicated in print for something she's been saying for as long as I can remember.
3) "'The stereotype of the university professor is accurate for so many people on campus. They like to read; for them there's nothing more exciting than ideas. And some of this has to do with how they spent their time when they were growing up. If you spend a lot of time charging around, then you have less time for reading and learning. There's only so much time in your life.'" That last line is something both sides of the spectrum should be able to say, but you so rarely hear it applied in this context.
4) Introvert guilt, which I completely identified with and had always chalked up to Catholic Guilt.
5) "Finally, pay attention to what you envy. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but it tells the truth."

However, there was one serious problem. In all that talk of fear of public speaking, not once did anyone mention nervous poo. Forgive me for being frank, but it's a phenomenon Roommate J (who I am sending this book immediately) and I discussed endlessly. Quelle oversight!