#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • The author of the bestselling
phenomenon Quiet explores the power of the bittersweet personality revealing a misunderstood
side of mental health and creativity while offering a roadmap to facing heartbreak in order to
live life to the fullest. “ Bittersweet has the power to transform the way you see your life
and the world.”—OPRAH “Grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go.”—BRENÉ BROWN author of Atlas
of the Heart “Susan Cain has described and validated my existence once again!”—GLENNON DOYLE
author of Untamed “The perfect cure for toxic positivity.”—ADAM GRANT author of Think Again
LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall
Street Journal Mashable Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing poignancy and
sorrow an acute awareness of passing time and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the
world. It recognizes that light and dark birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired.
If you’ve ever wondered why you like sad music . . . If you find comfort or inspiration in a
rainy day . . . If you react intensely to music art nature and beauty . . . Then you
probably identify with the bittersweet state of mind. With Quiet Susan Cain urged our
society to cultivate space for the undervalued indispensable introverts among us thereby
revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she employs the same mix of research
storytelling and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing and how embracing the
bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity connection and
transcendence. Cain shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us
transcend our personal and collective pain whether from a death or breakup addiction or
illness. If we don’t acknowledge our own heartache she says we can end up inflicting it on
others via abuse domination or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know—or will
know—loss and suffering we can turn toward one another. At a time of profound discord and
personal anxiety Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways.
