The new book features protagonists seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
