The new book is populated with characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a different type of work – observational, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted 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 considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
