Books that Influenced Author Jamie Quaranta

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001)
By Eric Schlosser
I will never eat at McDonald's and Burger King again!!

Are You My Mother? (1960)
By P.D. Eastman
A sad yet encouraging short children's poem about a bird's quest to find his long-lost mother, this story's heartbreaking yet heartwarming appeal has not waned with time. Every time I read the line, "He did not see her," I begin to weep. Every time I turn the very last page, I finally feel a strong sense of relief, regardless of how many times I have read this story altogether.

The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies (1988)
By Stan & Jan Berenstain
I have learned since the time I picked up this book in kindergarten that being greedy is a completely self-destructive aspect of human nature itself. I never ask for more and more money. I never ask someone to buy food and clothing for me. The list goes on and on. But, more importantly, I realize I should be grateful for all that I have rather than all of what I don't have.

Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months (1962)
By Maurice Sendak
Every time I read this immaculate short children's poem written by the Caldecott Award-winning author of Where the Wild Things Are, I always feel an immediate audacity to eat chicken soup with rice, no matter what time of the year it is.

Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (1997)
By Mitch Albom
A universally poignant true story on living life to the fullest extent, I have known over the years how important and inspiring it has been for me to have my 4th grade teacher as a mentor, no matter where my life afterward has taken me.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000)
By Dave Eggers
A quintessentially ethical treatise on the elusive desire to be loved, Eggers became an orphan at the "old" age of 22 because of his parents' death from unrelated cancers within five months of each other. He later begins to admire his brother because of this trauma, only to know that he is sharing his pain in an attempt to attenuate it in a highly profitable fashion. I'm just so happy to know that I'm not in his tragic circumstances for as long as I'm a young man!

The Road (2006)
By Cormac McCarthy
An irresistibly thought-provoking novel set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic universe, a father and his young son struggle to make their way through a cataclysmic American landscape, despite the love and compassion they continue to have for each other. Knowing that the effects of man-made climate change may have caused the landscape depicted here to be completely depleted of all its vital resources, I have now become a die-hard environmental activist. And, so, my reputation as consummate volunteer in my community has never been the same since then, but in a more productive way, that is.

The Godfather (1969)
By Mario Puzo
A sweeping depiction of a powerful Mafia clan and their epic place in America itself during the 20th century, I've been pressed to know that the film version has a more prominent stature in my collective self-consciousness than the original source material. Nevertheless, Puzo's literary testament to the complexities of organized crime and family dynamics remains a bold and timeless novel that I will cherish for as long as it's "an offer I can't refuse."

About the Author

Jamie Quaranta has a Bachelor of Library and Information Science degree from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. As a journalism student at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, CT from 2003-2007, he received numerous accolades from his friends, teachers, colleagues, and relatives alike for his outstanding amateur writings in a diverse range of styles, including creative non-fiction essays. In addition, he worked as a staff writer for the renowned two-year school�s student newspaper, where he specialized in arts-and-entertainment reviews, editorials, health news briefs, and other genres.

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