Quindlen is a journalist and opinion columnist as well as an author of bestseller fiction, nonfiction, and self-help books; some of her novels have been adapted into feature films. Her accolades include authoring a #1 New York Times bestseller and winning the Pulitzer Prize for her column in the New York Times. More recently, she published Write for Your Life (2022), a book about the importance of writing as a personal practice.

Quindlen was born and raised in Philadelphia to an Irish American father and Italian American mother. “A Quilt of a Country” draws on this personal experience of growing up in an ethnically diverse household. She highlights that while most 21st-century readers would consider her lineage quintessentially American, it was once controversial. She thus draws a parallel between America’s history and its present, nudging the reader to conclude that one day more recent immigrant arrivals will also be considered “one of us.”

Quindlen’s writing style in her opinion columns has drawn criticism for (allegedly) arguing points that few readers would object to—i.e., “preaching to the choir” to appeal to readers. It has also been argued that her style of personalizing tragedies to draw on readers’ empathy in fact minimizes the specificities and true nature of a given event.