The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
