The new book is populated with individuals chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, since this appears a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
