Susan Cain in Conversation: Bittersweet, 11 May 2022

Susan Cain’s paradigm-shifting book, Quiet, changed the way we think about introverts forever. Don’t miss Cain in conversation on her new book, Bittersweet, as she challenges our thinking again, revealing the strength and power in vulnerability, loss and pain.

Some of us inhabit a bittersweet state instinctively, others avoid it as much as we can; some of us arrive there when we reach a certain age, or after facing life’s trials and triumphs. But we will all experience the bittersweet at some point in our lives.

What are the powers of a bittersweet, melancholic outlook? And why has our culture been so blind to its value?

Following a trail of centuries-old artistic and wisdom traditions as well as contemporary psychology and management research, Cain discusses how bittersweetness is the key to leading a full and satisfying life. Yet, until now, its power has been hiding in plain sight. Our obsession with happiness is not making us happy, healthy, or whole. It’s by embracing our darker emotions—as well as the light—that we discover our deepest meaning and connection, love and joy.

Susan Cain is the author of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can't Stop Talking, which has sold over 2 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

‘Susan Cain’s Bittersweet grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go... I will always be grateful for how much Quiet and Bittersweet have helped me understand myself and how I engage with the world’ - Brené Brown

‘A decade ago, I found myself inside Quiet. With Bittersweet, Susan Cain has described and validated my existence once again! Her new book reaffirms that my constant, achy awareness of life’s brutiful is a way of being shared across the ages with artists, healers, and anyone who pays deep attention. I’ll place Bittersweet in the hands of all my feely, achy, beautiful friends’ - Glennon Doyle

‘This is the rare book that doesn’t just open your eyes—it touches your heart and sings to your soul. Susan Cain gave a voice to introverts, and now she masterfully paints our heaviest emotions in a light that’s long overdue. Bittersweet is the perfect cure for toxic positivity and a sparkling ode to the beauty of the human condition’ - Adam Grant