The new book centers on characters seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
