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Waterloo: A Novel Paperback – November 14, 2006

by Karen Olsson (Author)
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Nick Lasseter is in a slump--as a reporter for the Waterloo Weekly, and in every other part of his life as well. When he grudgingly agrees to write a piece about a rising female Republican legislator, he stumbles onto a political fight in which the good guys and bad guys start to seem interchangeable. And not even the deceased can be relied upon to stick to their stories when Nick gets involved with a political insider. As they search the dim depths of a civic past that's anything but dead and buried, they find that some things never change--things like the moral ambiguity of practical politics and the sad, hilarious cluelessness of young men in love.

Bittersweet and biting, elegiac and sharply observed, Waterloo is a portrait of a generation in search of itself--and a love letter to the slackers, rockers, hustlers, hacks, and hangers-on who populate Austin, Texas--from a formidable new intelligence in American fiction.

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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 14, 2006
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0312425597
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0312425593
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A melancholy comedy of Texas politics [written] with great wit and assurance.” ―Mark Costello, The New York Times Book Review

“Frank, clever prose.” ―The Believer

“Pleasantly ambles along like a Patsy Cline ballad. . . . Olsson masterfully incorporates . . . a theme of transience . . . into each story line.” ―Time Out New York

“Olsson's true achievement: connecting the real world of state politics and raw deals to an imaginary world of human frailty and complexity . . . What makes Waterloo transcendent of its time and place is Olsson's ability to draw out the common humanity between liberal journalist Nick Lasseter and conservative politician Beverley Flintic.” ―Austin American-Statesman

“An affectionate and gently humorous tribute to . . . Austin . . . Politics and journalism play a major role in the story and are handled with intelligence and insight. . . . This debut has much to recommend it.” ―Library Journal

“Acid-sweet tale of life, love and politics in slackerville . . . Olsson's dry irony, nuanced observations and enjoyably moody atmosphere build into a sophisticated portrait of her hometown. A debut to be enjoyed by idealists everywhere.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Intricate, ambitious . . . Clean, brisk prose.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Ambling, amiable, and super-smart.” ―Daily Candy

“Wistfully mischievous . . . A shrewd roman a clef [and] that rare accomplishment, a provincial fiction that finds the universe in a grain of Texas silt . . . A melancholy, jolly take on human imperfection.” ―San Antonio Current

About the Author

Karen Olsson is the author of the novels Waterloo and All the Houses. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, Slate, Bookforum,and Texas Monthly, among other publications, and she is also a former editor of the Texas Observer. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in mathematics and lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; First Edition (November 14, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312425597
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312425593
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Karen Olsson

Karen Olsson

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Customer reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars
15 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

B. Fountain III
5.0 out of 5 stars The best novel to come out of Texas in years
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2008
In this funny, ambitious, and extremely accomplished first novel, Karen Olsson portrays past and present, hip and square, liberal and conservative, youth and maturity, and public (political) life vs. private with a deftness and wisdom that few writers can match, much less one on the front end of her career. If you're looking for an introduction to Texas, and particularly Texas politics of the past 50 years, this is a wonderful place to start; Olsson knows her stuff but conveys it with a lightness of touch that makes it all come alive in her narrative and characters. If you're a lifelong Texan, you'll find much here that illuminates (and skewers, and caresses) existence in the Lone Star state. Olsson skillfully manages a multi-layered narrative--different points of view, different eras--to such effect that the reader comes away with the sense of having experienced a thick, and tremendously entertaining, slice of life. That she's exploring the life and times of Austin, Texas--one of the best cities in America--makes it all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Jomarie Leifert
2.0 out of 5 stars Much less than a mundane beach read
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2014
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Couldn't find a reason to want to know about the characters. Very limited storyline and character development.
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JBT
3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad for a Debut Novel
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2020
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I'm surprised at the negativity contained within the collection of reviews here. Waterloo is a perfectly serviceable debut novel. I didn't find the book so much plot/character driven but an attempt to express universal themes of gentrification and the local state politics surrounding it. All American cities have changed in the way portrayed in Waterloo and reading the book made we pause and reflect on those changes in my own city.
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Roy Sherwood
1.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2006
Verified Purchase
Ugly cover, lousy title...and the book itself! Bland, boring, unconvincing. There's nothing wrong with having characters who are slackers, but it might help to have the slackers be interesting or even a little nuts. Nothing is at stake in this book--for anybody. And Olsson apparently has no sense of humor--her charactrers are all very grim and very earnest, and she's very condescending not only the poor boring dopes that inhabit her book but to her readers as well. Very sad. And why use "Waterloo" for Austin--especially since the book jacket says "Austin"? Stupid.

The sound you hear is Billy Lee Brammer spinning in his grave....
8 people found this helpful
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S. K. Walsh
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-Read Debut of the Fall Season
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2005
Olsson has written a witty, sophisticated novel that promises to entertain native Austinites as well as readers outside the boundaries of Texas' familiar capital. Beyond delving into the political nuances of state politics, Olsson possesses a sharp eye for affairs of the human heart. Her scenes and dialogue between her characters resonate with truth, and often with smirks and laughter... whether it's between Nick Lasseter, the half-hearted, left-leaning journalist, and his inebriated Uncle Bones, a washed-up lobbyist... or a brief exchange between assemblywoman Beverly Flintic and a grocery store cashier. Also, it's not any debut novelist who can seamlessly shift between characters' points of view as well as moments in time. Olsson makes something seem easy, which isn't easy at all. Enjoy!
7 people found this helpful
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Louis Hemmi
2.0 out of 5 stars Good book for critics, crashing bore for anyone else
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2013
Very slow to get started. I kept thinking it would get better, but it never did. If this weren't a [...] selection, there's no way I would have finished it as my time could have been better spent looking for a better book about Texas. The characters were too flat, the plot just about non existent, and I did not wind up caring about anybody in the book.

In short, this is the kind of book that critics like (it's art) and readers don't.
2 people found this helpful
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Luan Gaines
4.0 out of 5 stars "The builders of the Tower of Babel might have avoided catastrophe if they hired the right architects."
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2005
While Nick Lasseter is nursing a broken heart and worried about losing a very mediocre position at The Waterloo Weekly, Beverly Flintic, a newly elected state assemblywoman, is receiving daily visits from lobbyist Kenneth (Bones) Lasseter and meeting gubernatorial candidate Mark Hardaway in distant motels for a few hours. Neither Nick nor Beverly are especially tuned into local politics, both struggling to stay afloat, minor fish in a bay full of sharks in Waterloo, Texas, a thinly disguised Austin. That the inefficient Hardaway, a man of few subtleties, could reach the office of governor says more about his high-powered friends than any assumed political acumen. Beverly's affair with Mark has compromised her effectiveness in her reapportioned district; she has recently put forth a bill for neighborhood gentrification that has hidden clauses affecting the homeowners' right of imminent domain.

Andrea Carter, of The Standard American, meets Nick at a funeral for a public figure, William Stanley Sabert. Apparently Kenneth Lasseter is already known to Andrea, whose deceased father worked with Sabert. Writing an article on the Jim Crow library that is about to be demolished for city renovation, Andrea has done an interview with Sabert; hence her presence at the funeral, the only dark face in the crowd. Nick is attracted to Andrea but is distracted by a scheduled interview with Beverly Flintic, although he has no background information on which to base his questions. That changes when Bones Lasseter gives his nephew a sheaf of papers concerning the bill Flintic has sponsored. Republican Flintic is somewhat concerned about the bill and its furthering of privatization of government agenda, but has been assured that all is in order.

Beverly is well-meaning and over-worked, trying to resolve family issues while representing a constituency that demands more from her than the usual sellout. Bit by bit, moving through a gridlocked urban sprawl, Olsson's protagonists awaken to their mutual concerns. Even, Bones, the crusty Democratic lobbyist, can read the writing on the wall: "It seems like it's all or nothing. There's no more spirit of conviviality." The nostalgic ramblings of these likeable characters reveal a city of conflicts, compromises and the simple urge to succeed in life; these flawed citizens are just like working people anywhere. On the other hand, the grim reality of a shifting economy doesn't slip Olsson's attention, or how easily the important things slip our attention.

Couched in everyday amiability, this novel could be Anywhere, USA, the scene of the privatization of human services, the massive fortunes made by committees who sponsor both litigation and public servants, spreading their greed to special interests. The bottom line: in business, anyone and anything can be bought and repackaged for public consumption. Sound familiar? It should. This process has been repeating itself all over America, the poor disenfranchised by redevelopment projects, their voices silenced by the roar of cash machines, extinct as the trees removed to make way for luxury townhouses. Waterloo is peopled with folks we all know, doing their jobs, surviving day by day with a secret hope of getting ahead somewhere along the line. And here are the smooth-talkers, the political aficionados and their behind-the-scenes bankers, chipping away, with more for the few and less for the many. The unseasoned reporters, one a borderline slacker and the assemblywoman who worries about her family, make this a very human story, a fictionalized city in Texas caught in the politics of the new millennium. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
11 people found this helpful
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