This latest work centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, because this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she presently aims to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
