This latest work is populated with individuals pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Chris Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position 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 currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp 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 referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
