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Learn more“You’re in a slump.” Nick Lasseter’s boss is talking about his job performance as a reporter for the Waterloo Weekly, but he might as well be talking about Nick’s whole life. His current assignment, a profile of a legendary liberal ex-congressman, is in trouble even before the subject abruptly dies. When Nick 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. Then, when he gets involved with the late congressman’s confidante, it seems that not even the deceased can be relied on to stick to their stories. Some things never change: the moral ambiguity of practical politics, and the hilarious cluelessness of young men in love.
Karen Olsson is a writer at large for Texas Monthly and a former editor of the Texas Observer. Her award-winning writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Baffler, The Nation, and other publications. She lives in Austin.
Anna Fields has received five Audie nominations from the Audio Publishers Association and is proud to have won in 2004 for All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki. She has also been honored by Audiofile magazine with more than a dozen Earphones Awards. She has voiced over 250 audiobooks.
Reviews
“A funny, intelligent novel about people who are at odds and at home with each other, just like in a real town.”
“[An] intricate, ambitious debut novel…With clean, brisk prose, Olsson brings a specific, authentic sense of character, time and place to this story of Texas politicians and muckrakers.”
“Anna Fields gives another in a string of fine performances…Fields reads with a keen sense of character and a superb sense of timing. She is also adept at making each character seem charming, funny, or serious, as needed, without losing focus on the novel’s plot, thus making this Texas story a pleasant diversion that will surely appeal to most listeners.”
“This wry love letter to Austin (formerly Waterloo), Texas, is steeped in nostalgia for the halcyon years of the late 1970s, when the music was fine, the beer was free, and the city seemed awash in addled good humor…Olsson displays an enviably light touch and a deep affection for her hometown.”
“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, and one bound to get Austin locals gossiping.”
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