🔗 Share this article

The new book features individuals pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, because this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be laden with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

The writer was originally 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, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step 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 seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par