This latest work centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. Meanwhile, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, because this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus started out as an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
