This latest work centers on characters seeking fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. Yet it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man 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 Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with 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
