Awkward
In AWKWARD, Ty Tashiro explains the psychological roots of social awkwardness, and he shows why the same traits that make us socially anxious and cause embarrassing faux pas also provide the seeds for extraordinary success.
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While modern social life can make even the best of us feel gawky, for roughly one in five of us, navigating its challenges is consistently overwhelming—an ongoing maze without an exit.
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Psychologist and interpersonal relationship expert Ty Tashiro unpacks decades of research from child development, neuroscience, personality, and sociology to help us better understand this widely shared trait. He explores its genetic vs. environmental origins, considers how the awkward view the world, and delivers a welcome counterintuitive message: the same characteristics that make people socially clumsy can be harnessed to produce remarkable achievements.
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Interweaving the latest research with personal tales and real world examples, Awkward offers reassurance and provides valuable insights into how we can embrace our personal quirks and unique talents to harness our awesome potential—and more comfortably navigate our complex world.
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Praise for Awkward
“Tashiro has become an evangelist for his kind…positing that there’s an upside to all this nerding out…. In many ways “Awkward” is a memoir…packed with vignettes from the author’s childhood, even as it loops in scientific studies and Darwinian theory.”
- Washington Post
“Illustrating his points with fascinating examples, Tashiro discusses the way awkward people deal with emotional situations...and, how we can learn to love our own awkwardness to bring ou the best in ourselves. An entertaining mix of social science and pop psychology.”
- Booklist
"Awkward contains many useful and resonant observations about everyday interactions..."
- New York Times