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Austinist Reviews Waterloo
Don’t worry, we won’t spoil the ending for you – because we never got to that part. Considering the book’s been out for a while, you might have beat us to it, anyway.
We were excited about reading Waterloo by Karen Olsson , because she lives in Austin and the book takes place in a city that happens to be a lot like Austin. Did you know Austin (or at least part of Austin), used to be called Waterloo? Hence Waterloo Records, Waterloo Ice House, etc. But, we digress.
There’s a few storylines that are starting to intertwine and we’re going to go out on a limb and guess that they all come completely together in the end. Nick is a writer for the local weekly paper (think Austin Chronicle) who has fallen out of love with his job, but who kind of likes Andrea, who works for the daily paper (think Statesman). Nick is tipped off by his uncle to interview Beverly Flintic, a former something-or-other turned Assembly woman, who is making waves in her party and making love not with her husband, but with another politician. There's no shortage of characters, storylines, or scandals. The problem is, we're 270 pages in and we haven't been able to connect with the any of it, so we just don't care.
Austinist thinks we made a mistake assuming that because the book was set in a city like Austin and because Olsson is living here, the city would be a major focus of the book. When there is a reference to Austin, we smile. Like old-school Austinities, er, Waterlooers telling transplants
"you should have been here when...When rent was still cheap and the music was better, and you could smoke weed outside the City Council building. With a city councilman."
"...near the university campus, people seemed to spend all day exercising or sitting in coffee shops. Sometimes she wondered whether any of them had jobs. Even to call Waterloo a city seemed like a stretch: it was too small and spread out, too good-natured, too easy. People didn't seem to work very hard. They drank a lot."
There's also talk of an east versus west and the fall of a beloved restaurant. And one night Beverly takes her son and his friend to an all-ages show, and we picture Emo's.
If you like books about politics, reporters, and a bit of mystery with a side of romance/adultry, you might love this book. And you know where to pick it up. We can tell you that we have no idea how this book will end, which is usually a good thing. But this time, unless you tell us what happens, we'll probably never find out.
