What is up with all the backstory in Sag Harbor?

 A question I asked myself many times over the course of reading Colson Whitehead's Sag Harbor was, "What is the point of having so many seemingly useless details?" Admittedly, at the time of writing this blog post I have yet to finish Sag Harbor, so perhaps the answer to my question lies in those final chapters of the book, but regardless, it seems odd to have so many details and stories when the characters are just doing some simple action such as getting into a car. I would like to recognize that adding backstory accomplishes two things. It explains why characters act(ed) in certain ways and helps lead their future moves. However, it also acts as filler text, helping to stretch the writing so a sentence such as:

"Marie hopped on her pink bike, buckled her helmet, gripped the handlebars tightly and rang the bell, then headed off on her way,"

can be turned into:

"Marie walked down the sidewalk with a laugh in her heart and a skip in her step. Adventure called, and she longed to answer that call. Her hot pink bicycle awaited at the end of the sidewalk like a hero's horse awaits the return of his master. The bicycle had been a gift from her grandmother, a lasting reminder of her love both for her granddaughter and the bright tones of fuchsia. Marie remembered her grandmother's words as she gave the treasured bicycle to her granddaughter. 'Marie,' the crone had croaked, 'this bicycle can take you to wherever your heart desires, but you must work for it, my dear. If you pedal hard and stay determined, and of course always remember to wear a helmet, life will play out in your favor. It will not be easy, but I know you have the strength.' Marie spent a moment more to send a prayer to God for her grandmother's soul, then buckled the straps of her helmet and positioned herself on the seat of her bicycle. It had truly been with her through thick and thin. Glancing at the scratches in the sparkling finish, she recalled last year's incident involving a 2008 Buick Lucerne and a deep ditch. She'd gone flying over the handlebars - she remembered, gripping them tightly - and soared into the creek that had lazily ran near the side of that road. Marie played with the trigger of her bell, the instrument perched on the top of the handlebars. It had once cried out pure notes, but after years of rust and wear, the chime made a dull, dinging noise. Marie nudged back the bicycle's kickstand with the heel of her foot, then pedaled forward slowly before picking up speed. Birds twittered and called as she raced by under their trees, and in their song Marie heard the resounding call of adventure, whose call she was now answering."

For starters, I apologize. I'm not quite sure to who, but that was really quite long. Whitehead, however, tends to stretch his paragraphs into pages, providing more backstory than what is really needed. Yes, in my shortened version, the reader would have no idea about Marie's dead grandmother or her accident in the year prior, but how necessary are those details to the story? I understand that Whitehead has lots to say about the denizens of Sag, but the pages of content regarding Benji's thoughts of Boba Fett seem a tad bit excessive. The reader gets that Boba's character changes, though accepted by Benji as an acceptable alternate side to both Han and Boba's personas, upsets many people. That point doesn't need to be reiterated so many times.

In addition, though adding backstory certainly can help a chapter, as it obviously adds some depth and material to it, it does not need to be present in such copious amounts. "The Heyday of Dag" is a great example. The chapter has so much to say, and yet, when condensed, can be reduced to:

"We planned a day at the beach, we argued over who was going to ride in the car, we rode in the car, we arrived at the beach, we did some stuff at the beach but not much happened, we got in the car again but it wasn't working."

It's honestly impressive how much Whitehead was able to add to that. But I think my point still stands. There really doesn't need to be so much detail! I was confused at first how the entirety of Sag Harbor could be contained within the few months of summer, then excited for the prospect of several "Bridle Path" style chapters packed with many different adventures, but I was mistaken. Many of the chapters in Sag Harbor only cover one specific event, and as such have a lot of backstory and fluff to make them so long.

Of course, it could just be me. Maybe others enjoy the backstory, as it does provide many amusing stories and accurately reflects how people tend to think of hundreds of different things in the span of minutes and each thing has a corresponding story or reasoning for its relevance. But I digress. To conclude, Sag Harbor simply has too much writing that isn't directly related to the story. Many of it is, and much of it does provide aid to the story, explaining a character's actions, but a good amount seems like it's just there to take up some space.

Edit: I'd like to add that while backstory and extra details do make for a much more interesting story (see example above), too many tend to draw out the narrative and take away from what is happening in the scene.