This latest work centers on characters seeking fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, as this appears a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
