The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters seeking clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore fresh narrative sources, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, 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.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
