The new book features characters seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
The writer began as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader fond of honed writing of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide 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 Murder Narrative
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about 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 often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
