“Liza Olson’s debut novel occupies an important space in the psyche of American fiction. Spanning sixteen years in the life of Waldo Collins—who isn’t quite Holden Caulfield as much as a nerdy, lower-middle class kid growing up in the suburban shadows of Chicago—Here’s Waldo is a testament to disenfranchisement.”
– Gauraa Shekhar, Maudlin House
“Here’s Waldo asks us to recall the adventures and misadventures of our own teenage years, reminding readers (especially of a certain age) that life was more spontaneous, more dangerous, and more likely to spin out-of-control in the days before ubiquitous screens and the safety net of cell phones and constant supervision. While we ride Waldo’s true-to-life rollercoaster, we re-experience our own past, our own formative years, making Here’s Waldo one of my favorite books of the year.”
– Joshua A.H. Harris, author of Unorthodoxy
“Olson seriously came out swinging with this debut novel. … Told through bite-sized but hard-hitting flash fiction-esque chapters, this narrative, centered largely around growing up in a dysfunctional lower-income household in Des Plaines, Illinois, is raw in its subject matter and blow-by-blow relating of events, yet rendered with beautiful prose. I found myself going whole paragraphs in admiration of the flowing descriptions. … showed the mind of a true humanist at work.”
– Zach MacDonald, author of Itsuki
You can order your copy here.
Liza Olson 