The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her own fresh start, since this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an creative who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
For this reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks 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 Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension 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 Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
