This latest work is populated with individuals chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this seems a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader fond of polished prose of the type the author herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could last out the book. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" 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 leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the victim with the murderer and his associates. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
