"A Quilt of a Country" is an essay written by American writer Anna Quindlen for Newsweek in the immediately aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The piece is unconventional in style and form; it is part autobiographical, part persuasive, and part expository history. As is clear from this piece, Quindlen had decades of experience working as a reporter for The New York Post and The New York Times as well as Newsweek both before and during her career as a novelist. At just under a thousand words, Anna Quindlen's essay is brief yet poignant. It is equal parts a reflection on the history of the United States as well as a call to arms to its readers to recognize the nation's unique notions of individualism.