The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. But then it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the victim with the killer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent 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 boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
