The Four Spent the Day Together from Chris Kraus – An Iconic Writer Attempts Fresh Territory

This latest work is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to honed writing of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration 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 Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par