The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she asserts that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
