This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, as this appears a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
For this reader fond of honed writing of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par