The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy 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 Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
