The new book is populated with protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this appears a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
