The new book centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It follows that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
