The new book centers on protagonists chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this appears a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the killer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
