This latest work features individuals chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, because this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
The writer was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style 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 large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to honed writing of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who favors precise prose of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative 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 new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
