The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
The writer began as an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
