This latest work centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the story. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It makes sense that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
