Review: The Satisfied Introvert by Benjamin Plumb

Author Benjamin Plumb presents his own remarkable life as a case study in finding happiness and purpose in The Satisfied Introvert: A Life-Changing Story About Finding Safety in an Extroverted World.

Recognizing his introversion from a young age, and actively choosing a strategy to manage it, this book is a wildly honest and detailed recounting of the author’s lifelong journey towards self-acceptance and ultimate success. By looking back at his own experiences through a keenly analytical lens, Plumb examines common themes of friendship, family, morality, and relationships, as well as more nuanced dissections of power dynamics, educational systems, geopolitics, and neurodivergence.

The anecdotes from his school-age years are charming and blush-inducing, especially his early frustrations with the enigmatic Anabela, and his eye-opening times in Brazil with both Ana Maria and Sofia. The trip was not the first time he pretended to be something he was not, but it was a critical test of his mental fluidity, and one that would set the tone for his many years as a hardcore introvert in an extroverted world.

From such early romantic failings to his personality dissonance in the military and big business, the overthinking author pulls readers along with eccentric humor and unvarnished storytelling. His attitude seems emotionally detached, at times, but there are also plenty of relatable and visceral moments, such as his fear of losing Ida as he ships off to Vietnam, his anxiety upon returning to a new world of Ivy League academia, and his moral uncertainty regarding certain business deals in Chile and Panama. This memoir is studded with scenes of vulnerability and self-appraisal, evidence of an author who isn’t afraid to bare his soul – sin, success, and everything in between.

For anyone who prefers to live inside their own head, but is instead forced to engage with the speed and intensity of reality, this book will read like a revelation. Even for those who have prospered for decades as introverts, much of the wisdom that Plumb offers is still relevant and applicable – from creating process-based recipes to his more spontaneous solutions to uncomfortable situations and tasks. Over the course of his memoir, readers will see the evolution of the author’s approach to his introversion, as he identifies where his tactics consistently failed. Not only does this lend the writing an endearing humility, but it highlights how one’s approach to mental health and wellness must be dynamic, and how any “recipe” must be flexible enough to escape.

On the technical side of things, the prose is generally clean and simple, boasting the occasional flourish of language, but flowery descriptions are both unnecessary and off-brand for the author’s clear-cut mind. Plumb can sometimes get lost in his own recollections and self-analysis, but his fascination with other people and general curiosity about the world keep the narrative gaze generally balanced. Avoiding paternalistic or patronizing language, Plumb is highly sensitive to the struggles of introverts, and effectively offers this book, in his words, as “both a warning and a ray of hope,” acting as much as a work of self-help as a memoir.

Capturing the essence of a life is rarely easy, let alone distilling the most fundamental lessons into valuable wisdom for readers, but Plumb manages to do both in this humorous, heartfelt, and deeply human read.