The new book features individuals chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
The writer began as an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could last out the book. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
