The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader fond of polished prose of the type the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader who favors precise prose of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the hostility and dread that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
