The new book centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she states that current political era makes confessional writing redundant.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. At one point 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 fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
