The new book features individuals seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As someone who reads who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
