This latest work centers on individuals seeking clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
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 resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses 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 compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
