Plumb's memoir explores the hurdles of being a quiet person adapting to a highly stimulating, extrovert world. He considers its effects on his well-being over the course of sixty years and across several countries of the Western Hemisphere. With an analytical mind, Plumb's predilection for formulas early on compels him to develop strategies to cope, ensure safety, and combat the pitfalls of shyness. But he eventually learns that even a "winning recipe" doesn't always guarantee success.

Never the athlete, Plumb comes of age as a skinny, bespectacled kid in California during the pivotal 1950-60s. Despite loving parents—a spirited but practical mother and a father working in the film and music industry––Plumb navigates the burdens of social ineptitude, relying on creative endeavors to gain a few complex romantic relationships with girls. As risks become greater, so do rewards but not necessarily achievements. Plumb comprehends these startling truths amid the sweltering heat and madness of the Vietnam War, where commitment to his future wife, Ida, ultimately saves him. But the real test comes when he's thrust into the "introvert hell" of Harvard Business School, nearly ruining his academic career. While Plumb struggles with professional wins and defeats and the breakdown of his marriage, he re-examines everything about the winning recipe that both helps and hurts him, bringing about surprising revelations.

Though marketed as a memoir, Plumb offers a kind of self-help book too, which speaks directly to introverts who might grapple with similar obstacles of solitude. There is an ease and genuineness to Plumb's writing that introverts (and other readers) will recognize and appreciate. Plumb presents a captivating lifetime of personal triumphs and failures against the backdrop of political and social change. It's a charming, revealing, and refreshing read that instills much-needed confidence.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

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