The new book features individuals chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this presents as a different type of work – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was intrigued 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 becomes vivid partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
