The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
