This latest work is populated with individuals pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived 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 comes back in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned 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 the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
