
Bittersweet
How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
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Narrated by:
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Susan Cain
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By:
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Susan Cain
About this listen
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Sadness is your superpower. In her new masterpiece, 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 road map to facing grief in order to live life to the fullest.
“Bittersweet 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.
*Includes a downloadable PDF containing a Bittersweet quiz from the book
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Random House (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
2022, Porchlight Business Book Awards - Big Ideas and New Perspectives, Long-listed
“A thoughtful examination of the melancholic disposition . . . a unique blend of psychology, biography, spirituality, musical references and pop culture. For those feeling sorrowful or dealing with a loss, the idea of transforming pain into creativity, transcendence and love is a compelling one. Cain does an excellent job of using research, case studies and personal stories to justify her argument. It is a unique view in a culture that tends to medicate strong feelings rather than welcome them.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Bittersweet is astonishing—one of the most gracefully written, palpably human books I’ve read in years. Its powerful case will reshape how you think about yourself and those you love. Its sheer beauty will linger in your heart long after you turn the final page.”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and A Whole New Mind
“Susan Cain does it again! As the author of the worldwide phenomenon Quiet, she changed how the world sees introverts. Now she has written a book that will change how the world sees sorrow and longing. This book is an absolute triumph: It’s for anyone who has ever really lived, loved, or lost.”—Greg McKeown, host of the What’s Essential podcast and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Effortless and Essentialism
Interview: Susan Cain on Why It’s Good to Feel Sad

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As a newcomer to Sikhi this book was perfect!
- By Tonneli on 01-24-23
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The Way of Integrity
- Finding the Path to Your True Self
- By: Martha Beck
- Narrated by: Martha Beck, Maria Shriver
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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As Martha Beck says in her book, “Integrity is the cure for psychological suffering. Period.” In The Way of Integrity, Beck presents a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, and with it, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering. Much of what plagues us—people pleasing, staying in stale relationships, negative habits—all point to what happens when we are out of touch with what truly makes us feel whole.
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Needs a PDF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- By Belle on 07-25-21
By: Martha Beck
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At Your Best
- How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor
- By: Carey Nieuwhof
- Narrated by: Carey Nieuwhof
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you.
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So helpful.
- By kevin on 09-21-21
By: Carey Nieuwhof
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Life Is in the Transitions
- Mastering Change at Any Age
- By: Bruce Feiler
- Narrated by: Bruce Feiler
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times best sellers The Secrets of Happy Families and Council of Dads, has long explored the stories that give our lives meaning. Galvanized by a personal crisis, he spent the last few years crisscrossing the country, collecting hundreds of life stories in all 50 states from Americans who’d been through major life changes - from losing jobs to losing loved ones; from changing careers to changing relationships; from getting sober to getting healthy to simply looking for a fresh start.
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Superb Observation, Concept and Topic.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-06-22
By: Bruce Feiler
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Homecoming
- Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self
- By: Thema Bryant Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Thema Bryant Ph.D., Ina King
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of stress, disappointment, and trauma, people often fall into survival mode, even while a part of them longs for more. Juggling multiple demands and responsibilities keeps them busy, but not healed. As a survivor of sexual assault, racism, and evacuation from a civil war in Liberia, Dr. Thema Bryant knows intimately the work involved in healing. Having made the journey herself, in addition to guiding others as a clinical psychologist and ordained minister, Dr. Thema shows you how to reconnect with your authentic self and reclaim your time, your voice, your life.
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Not a ton of information here
- By libinzibe on 07-18-23
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Things I Learned from Falling
- A Memoir
- By: Claire Nelson
- Narrated by: Claire Nelson
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2018, writer Claire Nelson made international headlines when she fell over 25 feet after wandering off the trail in a deserted corner of Joshua Tree. The fall shattered her pelvis, rendering her completely immobile. There Claire lay for the next four days, surrounded by boulders that muffled her cries for help, but exposed her to the relentless California sun above. Her rescuers had not expected to find her alive. In Things I Learned from Falling, Claire tells not only her story of surviving, but also her story of falling.
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Stunning and interesting
- By Amazon Customer on 11-29-23
By: Claire Nelson
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Lighter
- Let Go of the Past, Connect with the Present, and Expand the Future
- By: Yung Pueblo
- Narrated by: Yung Pueblo
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Yung Pueblo’s path to deep healing began only after years of drug abuse had taken a toll on his mind and body. Searching for a way forward, he found that by honestly examining and addressing the anxieties and fears that he had been running away from, he no longer felt like a stranger inside of his heart and mind. And once he dedicated himself to meditation and trusting his intuition, he started to finally feel mentally lighter, with more love emerging from within. This was not an easy journey, and it's one that he is still on, but it showed him that real healing is possible.
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Going through a break up
- By Amazon Customer on 10-08-22
By: Yung Pueblo
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Fault Lines
- Fractured Families and How to Mend Them
- By: Karl Pillemer Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Estrangement from a family member is one of the most painful life experiences. It is devastating not only to the individuals directly involved - collateral damage can extend upward, downward, and across generations. More than 65 million Americans suffer such rifts, yet little guidance exists on how to cope with and overcome them. In this book, Karl Pillemer combines the advice of people who have successfully reconciled with powerful insights from social science research. The result is a unique guide to mending fractured families.
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Fault Lines is a great book.
- By Paula F. Braun on 06-09-21
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Things That Matter
- Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life
- By: Joshua Becker
- Narrated by: Joshua Becker
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Everywhere around you are distractions: That text you respond to quickly, just to get it out of the way. The newest money-making side hustle to cross your mind. The evening spent organizing your overflowing kitchen cupboards. Disruptions are the enemies of a life well lived—both the new distractions of our generation and timeless ones that have existed for centuries. They all add up to make you feel restless, tired, and unfulfilled. They’re keeping you from living with joy, from accomplishing the good that only you can do.
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A ton of preaching about being “selfless”
- By Amazo rrrrrrrrrrr on 08-25-22
By: Joshua Becker
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Dope Therapy
- A Radical Guide to Owning Your Therapy Journey
- By: Shani Tran
- Narrated by: Shani Tran
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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For many people, there is fear and stigma associated with entering the therapy room. Maybe you've been told that going to therapy means something is wrong with you. Maybe you don't know what to expect. Even if you recognize the benefits of seeking help, it can feel scary and unknown to take that first step. If you've thought about therapy but don't know where to start, or if you've tried therapy in the past but it hasn't helped, Authentic Therapy is for you.
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Best intro & explainer therapy book I've ever read
- By Reggie on 01-19-23
By: Shani Tran
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Do Less
- A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Busy Moms
- By: Kate Northrup
- Narrated by: Kate Northrup
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a book for working women and mothers who are ready to release the culturally inherited belief that their worth is equal to their productivity, and instead create a personal and professional life that's based on presence, meaning, and joy. As opposed to focusing on "fitting it all in", time management, and leaning in, as so many books geared at ambitious women do, this book embraces the notion that through doing less women can have - and be - more.
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Wanted to like it more
- By Laurel on 05-09-19
By: Kate Northrup
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Push Off from Here
- Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else)
- By: Laura McKowen
- Narrated by: Laura McKowen
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In Push Off from Here, McKowen delves deeply into each of her nine points: what they mean, how they work, and how every person can live them. She addresses topics such as the correlation between trauma and addiction, the importance of radical honesty, letting go of the illusion of control, the value of community, a reminder that healing is a continual process, and that the process is a gift. Whether you’re just starting out or have been sober for decades, McKowen instructs us to be kind to ourselves: Change is messy and progress is rarely linear, but we can always push off from here.
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As a "Quit Lit" connoisseur, this is a new fave!
- By Cheri Howard on 06-24-23
By: Laura McKowen
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Burn
- New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy
- By: Herman Pontzer PhD
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes show how exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. This was a brilliant evolutionary strategy to survive in times of famine. Now it seems to doom us to obesity. The good news is we can lose weight, but we need to cut calories. Refuting such weight-loss hype as paleo, keto, anti-gluten, anti-grain, and even vegan, Pontzer discusses how all diets succeed or fail: For shedding pounds, a calorie is a calorie.
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Went from Science to Psuedo Science
- By Brad on 03-10-21
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The Great Work of Your Life
- A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling
- By: Stephen Cope
- Narrated by: Kevin M. Connolly
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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To know your true calling - your dharma, as the yogis say - is perhaps the greatest desire within each of us. And yet, few can say we know our purpose with absolute certainty. Fortunately, there is a time-tested guide - an ancient map - for discovering and fulfilling your unique calling. In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope walks you through each step of the journey.
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Jungian Zen Psychoanalytical Retired Meditation Teacher
- By Glenn Guillory, SFO on 06-13-20
By: Stephen Cope
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Hear Yourself
- How to Find Peace in a Noisy World
- By: Prem Rawat
- Narrated by: Prem Rawat
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The cacophony of modern life can be deafening, leaving us feeling frazzled and uneasy. In this warm, wise book, Prem Rawat teaches us how to turn down the noise to “hear ourselves” - to listen to the subtle song of peace that sings inside each of us. Once we learn to truly “hear ourselves” and the voice of peace within, then we can hold on to that as we face all the noise of the world. The culmination of a lifetime of study, Hear Yourself lays out the crucial steps we can use to focus on the voice within.
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This is a book about you.
- By Anonymous User on 10-02-22
By: Prem Rawat
What listeners say about Bittersweet
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- Carol K Kruse
- 05-20-22
Gripping. Evokes introspection and reframing
Gradually takes the reader on a journey into one's own life. Kudos for the mastering the art of a transformative experience through others stories!
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-24-22
Homecoming
This book puts words and understanding to a complex human emotion that so many of us experience without having the language to understand. Thank you Susan, for compiling this language around something that connects so many of us to ourselves and to each other, in a deeper, more intricate way.
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- Gretchen Dirnberger
- 05-06-22
Excellent
This is such a well written book. It took me on a journey. I loved hearing the author read it as well.
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- Susan A. Fink
- 05-03-22
Bravo.
Susan, You’ve put into words so much of what many many many of us need to metabolize in our lives, and not only those of us who identify with melancholy. Thank you for being brave. Thank you for sharing so much good research and adding in the right notes of your personal and perfect choices of story to elevate our understanding. I hope this book reaches and resonates with as many people as Brenes work has…it’s as important and parallels what so many of us will be grateful to understand. Susan Fink
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- Natalie Santana
- 04-20-22
A Must Read!
Susan Cain has done it again. I get so seen in this book. I’ve never been able to understand why there was such a sad undertone to every occurrence in my life, but now I know it’s my super power. Incredibly written and beautifully read.
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- Bibek P.
- 07-04-22
Incredibly moving and powerful
I’m not easily moved to tears, and yet this book had me close to tears more than once. Listening to this book felt like she had read my mind and seen my life. I found a sense of purpose and clarity that I had not with any religious or spiritual text. Such a profound examination of grief, familial relationships, love, and loss.
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- Debbie R.
- 06-08-22
Very profound and universally meaningful
This is my second book by this author. She is really very deeply insightful and communicates openly about herself and her subject. I highly recommend this book. Her reading of the book is just perfect. There is some thing for everyone in this book.
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- Darcy Simons
- 07-09-22
so many things
this book touched on so many topics foreign to Americans. I learned more than I thought I would about grief, sadness, and generational trauma.
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- Nichole Rivers
- 07-29-22
Beautiful, from the heart and well written
This book touched upon the piece I was missing. As the author states the Piece (as in the piece to make our circle within our mind a whole) and Peace (as in the Peace of the longing I feel and to hear a whole book stating that it’s a part of us.) BITTER SWEET. I love this book and the tears I shed felt Bitter Sweet.
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- Christopher Diefenbach
- 11-24-22
Make your suffering your creative offering
So many well thought out and researched ideas. I don’t know if I have ever resonated with a book this much. After the death of my son I realize the beauty in the suffering and the joy found after the pain. Well done.
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