This latest work centers on protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it willfully cynical through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
