This latest work centers on individuals pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an creative who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader fond of polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
