A Look at The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus – An Iconic Writer Ventures Into Fresh Territory

The new book features individuals chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.

As a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. 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 with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par