The new book is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this seems a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling 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 progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to 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 drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the killer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
