The new book is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this presents as a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the tone 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 considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature obsolete.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
