The new book is populated with individuals chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Fascination and Incompletion
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
