This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated 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 explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
