The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, since this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the killer and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named 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, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par