INTROVERT ALERT
Discovering what you want out of life, navigating self-doubt, and standing on the threshold of adulthood is tough no matter who you are. Luckily there are friends along the way who can help us. For some, those friends happen to be made out of a splash of ink and a pound of paper. Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert’s Story by Debbie Tung is one of those books.
When it arrived, Debbie Tung’s graphic novel looked familiar to me and no doubt why – I had been following her work on Instagram, which can be found @wheresmybubble. Her work has appeared in print and online in several places. I was glad to get my hands on this book.
This autobiographical graphic novel of Tung’s young life and entry into adulthood is told in single-page sets of drawings which makes it easy to dip in and out, or do as did and read it all in one sitting. She makes her way through graduate school, writing her dissertation, reflecting on her childhood and getting into a relationship with an extrovert — all with observational, self-deprecating humor and charm.
Tung’s book had a very similar effect on me as when I read Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking a few years ago. It opened my eyes to my own introversion and I found a kinship. I knew I was an introvert long before reading it, but there were parts of my personality that didn’t make sense to me, like my ambition, like my ability to be outgoing in specific situations. Cain’s book explores introversion in a deep dive and gave me a lot of helpful insight. Tung’s book is anecdotal, and more like a quiet cup of tea with a good friend, you can communicate with entirely by passive telepathy.
Tung also opened my eyes to differences in experience. Experiences I imagine that would be more common for young women who are introverts as well, navigating sexist behavior on top of their introversion. I’ve already pressed my copy into the hands of my favorite introvert to see what she thinks.
I’d recommend Quiet Girl in a Noisy World to introverts who are figuring things out and the people that love them.
This review originally appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star on December 3, 2017. ©Lincoln Journal Star, 2017.
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About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark is a writer in Omaha where his family understands that he needs a little space sometimes.
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Most of my research is done through primary sources: newspapers, career guides, self-help books, medical books, etiquette guides, advertisements and so on… I also look at secondary sources, but then always pivot back to read the sources from the period that are referenced. In terms of writing historical fiction, one of the most interesting things for me is not presenting events as we might understand them today, but trying to understand how the same events were perceived during their time. So, in the case of the sleepwalker found frozen to death, in the 2010s, we would immediately question “too much schoolwork” as a cause, but in the 1910s, that opinion was backed up by doctors and medical books. And in fact, in the course of Kitty’s investigations, she speaks to a “nerve specialist” who tells her that girls who study too hard or work too much (like herself) are prone to all sorts of diseases. She has to get past that in order to solve the mystery.
