The new book features individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this seems a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
