The new book centers on protagonists chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of 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 persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
