This book had a huge and formative influence on me in recent months. Its implications for me (that I am not as weird as I thought I was) will reverberate in my psyche for years to come. ( )

An amazing book that brings a fresh perspective to the introvert/extrovert debate. At times, Rufus can be defensive, even standoffish, but even this seems to prove her point that introverts are often misunderstood and misjudged.

She explores how loners integrate themselves into the flow of daily life and rather than urging them to change and become more social, she praises the much-needed qualities they bring to society just as they are.

"Party of One" is an excellent resource and offers a long overdue profile of introverts and how they survive in the land of social butterflies. ( )

An excellent and overdue book for the shy, the introverted, and the loners. The people who are just find spending much of their time alone and still leading happy, fulfilling lives. Rufus documents the way that loners are given a bad name and a hard time in society. A good book for a loner looking for affirmation for their lifestyle and especially for the sociable extroverts to understand the loners in their life. ( )

This book fulfills the title's promise of a manifesto--loners are portrayed here as misunderstood and discriminated against by a society that favors the sociable. While Rufus uses evidence well, the tone borders on jarring. Further, the book doesn't provide enough gradation in its definitions of loner--a person who might self-identify as a loner (like me), might very well read this book and decide that she's not, in fact, lonerish enough to qualify. Engaging and lovely prose, however. ( )

Self-reliant, each loner swims alone through a social world—a world of teams, troops and groups—that scorns and misunderstands those who stand apart. Everywhere from newspapers to playgrounds, loners are accused of being crazy, cold, stuck-up, standoffish, selfish, sad, bad, secretive and lonely—and, of course, serial killers. Loners, however, know better than anyone how to entertain themselves—and how to contemplate and to create. They have a knack for imagination, concentration, inner discipline, and invention—a talent for not being bored.

Too often, loners buy into society’s messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature—and hiding from it. In Party of One, Anneli Rufus delivers a long-overdue argument in praise of loners. Assembling evidence from diverse arenas of culture, Rufus recognizes loners as a vital force in world civilization rather than damaged goods who need to be "fixed." A compelling, morally urgent tour de force, Party of One rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness, and that the only experiences that matter are shared ones.