This latest work centers on characters chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, she is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this presents as a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
