Summer of Hate [Chris Kraus]

[Albuquerque] [Class Violence] [Awesome]

Summer of Hate

Chris Kraus

Semiotexte, CA. 2012. First paperback edition. One minor crease to the front cover, pristine otherwise. An excellent copy. 

From the publisher:

"In Albuquerque, she becomes romantically involved with Paul Garcia, a recently sober ex-con who has just served sixteen months in state prison for defrauding Halliburton Industries, his former employer, of $873. Almost forty years old, Paul is highly intelligent but has only been out of New Mexico twice. He has no information. With Catt's help, he makes plans to attend UCLA, only to be arrested on a ten-year-old bench warrant en route.

Caught in the nightmarish Byzantine world of the legal system, Catt and Paul's empathic attempts to save each other's lives seems doomed to dissolve. Summer of Hate is a novel about flawed reciprocity and American justice, recording recent events through the prism of a beleaguered romance. As lucid and trenchant as ever, Kraus in her newest novel reminds us that the writer can be a first responder of sorts when power becomes invisible, or merely banal."

Burquenos, take note. This is a stunner by the always excellent Kraus, and the sense of place is awesome. I loved reading this, and so will you. A no brainer.