The new book centers on protagonists chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her own fresh start, as this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
