This latest work centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into 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. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
