The Four Spent the Day Together features characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an creative who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
