The new book centers on individuals seeking clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering three generations – 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, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the kind that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. There is a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style 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 disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
