The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader who favors precise prose of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
