The new book features protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. Yet it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
Kraus began as an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she asserts that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, 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 lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
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