The new book features protagonists pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, she is embarking on her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. Yet it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
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 backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods 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 substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
