The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Fascination and Incompletion
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
