The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this seems a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
