The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
The writer began as an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states 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 see".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
