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Here's Waldo
Spanning the late 90s to the 2010s, HERE'S WALDO is a sprawling, tragicomic novel that tracks the story of Waldo Collins, a nerdy kid born in a torn-up town in the shadow of Chicago-unincorporated Des Plaines, IL. It's a story about what it was like to come of age as the new millennium dawned with all its irrevocable changes. A story about the family bonds we're born with and those we create along the way, and about using humor to find light in the dark. About generational trauma and the continuation (or completion) of cycles of violence. It's here we follow Waldo from age eight to twenty-four as he figures out his place in the world, leaves his hometown to become a writer, and ultimately comes back to face everything (and everyone) he left behind. Here's a story of loss, love, grief, guilt, and a search for meaning. Here's Waldo.
352 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2020
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Liza Olson
5 books6 followersLiza Olson is the author of the novels Here’s Waldo, The Brother We Share, Afterglow, and Boundless and Bare. A Best of the Net nominee, Best Small Fictions nominee, finalist for Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award, and 2021 Wigleaf longlister in and from Chicagoland, she's been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, Cleaver, Pithead Chapel, and other fine places.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 6, 2020
Olson seriously came out swinging with this debut novel. Aware of the premise of the book going in, but not really knowing what to expect otherwise, I was truly absorbed. 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.
There are some dark things related to readers in this novel. Uncomfortable truths and ugly sides to reality, detailed with warts and all. There's no shying away from them by Waldo Collins, as he writes about the years of his youth leading him to the present. Violence and bullying, love, death, sexuality, and a myriad of grey areas that exist in all of them can be found in these pages, though I won't offer any spoilers. The balancing act Olson seems to perform so brilliantly here is to temper the bad with good, ugliness with beauty, darkness with light. As one of the characters succinctly (and fittingly) explains later in the novel, light and dark, good and bad exists in all people and all things - the classic yin-yang - and this tale reads as a kind of case study in this with regards to human nature.
Following up on that last point, one of my favorite parts of the novel were the fascinating vignettes told from the point of view of a host of its secondary characters. Not only eye-opening and powerful, they showed the mind of a true humanist at work. Some of these vignettes were heart-wrenching, and one, featuring Waldo's despicable bully, dredged an unexpected and hard-won sympathy out of me, which also led to what was for me one of the most profound emotional payoffs in the concluding chapters.
Suffice to say, the finale of the book, during which Waldo comes back to face the people from his formative years that haunt him the most, very nearly moved me to tears at points. Fantastic read, and highly recommended.
(Also, for certain other 90s and early 2000s kids out there, some of the Nintendo and Pokemon references that pop up will probably hit the nostalgia sweet spot).
There are some dark things related to readers in this novel. Uncomfortable truths and ugly sides to reality, detailed with warts and all. There's no shying away from them by Waldo Collins, as he writes about the years of his youth leading him to the present. Violence and bullying, love, death, sexuality, and a myriad of grey areas that exist in all of them can be found in these pages, though I won't offer any spoilers. The balancing act Olson seems to perform so brilliantly here is to temper the bad with good, ugliness with beauty, darkness with light. As one of the characters succinctly (and fittingly) explains later in the novel, light and dark, good and bad exists in all people and all things - the classic yin-yang - and this tale reads as a kind of case study in this with regards to human nature.
Following up on that last point, one of my favorite parts of the novel were the fascinating vignettes told from the point of view of a host of its secondary characters. Not only eye-opening and powerful, they showed the mind of a true humanist at work. Some of these vignettes were heart-wrenching, and one, featuring Waldo's despicable bully, dredged an unexpected and hard-won sympathy out of me, which also led to what was for me one of the most profound emotional payoffs in the concluding chapters.
Suffice to say, the finale of the book, during which Waldo comes back to face the people from his formative years that haunt him the most, very nearly moved me to tears at points. Fantastic read, and highly recommended.
(Also, for certain other 90s and early 2000s kids out there, some of the Nintendo and Pokemon references that pop up will probably hit the nostalgia sweet spot).
October 10, 2020
Here's Waldo by the author Nick Olson is his debut novel. This is the story of Waldo Collins who was born in Illinois. This story is about the family bonding that a child shares with his parents. It shows the mother son bonding over a movie night. He gets moral support from his mother at all the scary parts. A night outing for a father son bonding was amazing. The story further covers the journey of Waldo as he keeps growing up to eleventh birthday and then so on. Waldo wanted to be a writer. Grab a copy of this book and read about his journey.
Language of the book was simple. Narration is smooth. Cover page of the book is interesting. I really enjoyed this story. It is divided into multiple parts with each chapter 2-4 pages long. Story is intriguing and I was able to finish it in two days. Pick this book, I am sure it will not fail to impress you. Great work by the author in his debut novel.
Language of the book was simple. Narration is smooth. Cover page of the book is interesting. I really enjoyed this story. It is divided into multiple parts with each chapter 2-4 pages long. Story is intriguing and I was able to finish it in two days. Pick this book, I am sure it will not fail to impress you. Great work by the author in his debut novel.
April 5, 2022
Waldo's journey to adulthood is grim, funny, irreverent, and so so nostalgic. Would recommend.
December 24, 2021
Nick’s debut novel is an incredibly solid piece of work about life, growing up and trying to navigate mountains of broken people along the way. It feels LIVED IN and its characters developed and REAL. There’s an aura to growing up in the Midwest and reading through this felt its presence as Waldo navigates his surroundings.
Nick’s debut novel is the goods. As a former midwesterner it gave me a ton of flashbacks and some of the prose written made me recollect some of my own youth. After I finished it I sat, reflecting, thinking about how my time in the Midwest shaped me to be the person I am today. It oozes with the potential for more as we push to live our lives with a humanity sometimes like I feel we sometimes forget about.
Nick’s debut novel is worth your time. And I’m glad to see him writing with such fearlessness and haste. Looking forward to getting my hands on his next novel too.
Nick’s debut novel is the goods. As a former midwesterner it gave me a ton of flashbacks and some of the prose written made me recollect some of my own youth. After I finished it I sat, reflecting, thinking about how my time in the Midwest shaped me to be the person I am today. It oozes with the potential for more as we push to live our lives with a humanity sometimes like I feel we sometimes forget about.
Nick’s debut novel is worth your time. And I’m glad to see him writing with such fearlessness and haste. Looking forward to getting my hands on his next novel too.
February 4, 2021
Here is Waldo, indeed, up front and personal. In his debut novel, Nick Olsen offers us an intimate, unvarnished portrayal of the trials, missteps, pain, and occasional, hard-fought victories of growing up poor in Des Plaines, Illinois.
While Waldo is set just outside of Chicago, it could take place in any low/middle-class neighborhood. The various experiences Olsen so lovingly describes—and the resulting confusion, anger, and joy—tap right into the universal struggles of growing up in suburban/small town America. 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.
Perhaps most poignantly, Waldo explores the early crucible of forming or rejecting relationships—of learning whom to trust, whom to listen to, and whom to disregard. Olsen adeptly spins the web of Waldo’s socio-emotional connections, as various events pull some people closer, while other people must be pushed away. The reader experiences these events as real, as true, and thus the pain and satisfaction of Waldo’s struggle to find his own tribe bring home some core truths about the human spirit, pain, and, of course, love.
Olsen’s prose pulls the reader right into his world with details that stick and sing. The confessional nature of main character’s voice quickly builds empathy for Waldo, such that the reader feels the conflicts and emotional struggles of the main character and hopes, throughout the novel, that everything will turn out well for Waldo. The short chapter format, each one resembling a stand-alone nugget of flash fiction, drives the narrative forward, while also providing Olsen openings to break into various voices, including chapters from other characters’ perspective and moments of a disembodied narrator who sheds valuable light and wisdom from afar. Olsen’s got effective, engaging, and lyrical writing down pat.
A rich love letter to struggle, challenge, grit, violence, and perseverance, Waldo carries the reader through the formative years of Waldo with piercing detail and urgent prose. If Waldo were a symphony, I would say it hits many sweet high notes, strikes cool harmonies throughout, and, at times, banging down with some tragically beautiful dissonances.
I recommend Here’s Waldo highly. And I very much look forward to Olsen’s next novel.
While Waldo is set just outside of Chicago, it could take place in any low/middle-class neighborhood. The various experiences Olsen so lovingly describes—and the resulting confusion, anger, and joy—tap right into the universal struggles of growing up in suburban/small town America. 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.
Perhaps most poignantly, Waldo explores the early crucible of forming or rejecting relationships—of learning whom to trust, whom to listen to, and whom to disregard. Olsen adeptly spins the web of Waldo’s socio-emotional connections, as various events pull some people closer, while other people must be pushed away. The reader experiences these events as real, as true, and thus the pain and satisfaction of Waldo’s struggle to find his own tribe bring home some core truths about the human spirit, pain, and, of course, love.
Olsen’s prose pulls the reader right into his world with details that stick and sing. The confessional nature of main character’s voice quickly builds empathy for Waldo, such that the reader feels the conflicts and emotional struggles of the main character and hopes, throughout the novel, that everything will turn out well for Waldo. The short chapter format, each one resembling a stand-alone nugget of flash fiction, drives the narrative forward, while also providing Olsen openings to break into various voices, including chapters from other characters’ perspective and moments of a disembodied narrator who sheds valuable light and wisdom from afar. Olsen’s got effective, engaging, and lyrical writing down pat.
A rich love letter to struggle, challenge, grit, violence, and perseverance, Waldo carries the reader through the formative years of Waldo with piercing detail and urgent prose. If Waldo were a symphony, I would say it hits many sweet high notes, strikes cool harmonies throughout, and, at times, banging down with some tragically beautiful dissonances.
I recommend Here’s Waldo highly. And I very much look forward to Olsen’s next novel.
June 4, 2021
Nick’s sharp observational skills and stunning style manages to strike the perfect balance between heartbreak and that naked appreciation for life that refuses to be exterminated no matter how bleak everything else is. All without being viewed through those proverbial rose-tinted glasses. To me this type of book seems more important than ever. A book I didn’t realize I needed. Like finding a patch of bright green and yellow dandelions in a junk yard or something.
June 2, 2022
Compulsively readable and also heartbreaking. This novel examines the brutality inside a working class Chicago suburb, where bullying is literally lethal and boys are socialized to ignore their feelings to the point of sociopathy. School is no comfort, parents are broken, life is a nightmare: except for good friends and writing.
The end feels a little too neat, but it is cathartic for this character to confront and make peace with all the messy, complicated people from his past.
The end feels a little too neat, but it is cathartic for this character to confront and make peace with all the messy, complicated people from his past.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews