The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters pursuing new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It follows that she currently desires to try out fresh narrative sources, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
