Fast Food Nation

Eric Schlosser's investigation of the fast food industry grew out of a 1997 Rolling Stone assignment, after which he spent nearly three years researching the industry, and the magazine first serialized it in 1999. The first part, The American Way, covers southern California pioneers Carl Karcher and the McDonald brothers, the uneasy bond between Ray Kroc and Walt Disney, advertising aimed at children, and the minimum-wage workforce of Colorado Springs. The second, Meat and Potatoes, turns to flavor chemistry, cattle ranchers, E. coli, and meatpacking, which he calls the most dangerous job in America, then follows fast food abroad after the Cold War. Released in 2001, it has been compared to The Jungle and became a 2006 Richard Linklater film.

Richard Branson included it in his list of 65 books to read in a lifetime, and NETOPIA mobilPay founder Antonio Eram suggested it to young people who share an interest in his career path.