The new book is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of polished prose of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
