This latest work is populated with protagonists chasing after fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author 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" appear throughout the text. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to explore different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, 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 personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
