The new book centers on protagonists pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this seems a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse transitions between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a society driven by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
