This latest work centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the type the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
