This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. At the same time, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
The writer started out as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, moving from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader attracted to polished prose of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
