This latest work is populated with characters pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into defiance. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named 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 account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
