The new book centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, since this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books 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 Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the killer and his friends. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
