This latest work features individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
