The new book centers on individuals seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, because this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of honed writing of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
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 responsible documentation 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 herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
