This latest work is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the story of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
