This latest work is populated with protagonists chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this seems a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words 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 precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
