This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this seems a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. Yet it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion 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 online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day spent by the victim with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named 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 in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
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 audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
