This latest work features individuals pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. However it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their histories. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
