The new book is populated with characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an artist who became a writer 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 abjection into defiance. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired 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 aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
