The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this seems a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. Yet it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing 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.
As a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
