The new book features individuals seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. Meanwhile, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, because this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into 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 other people's stories, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend 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 found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
