The new book features individuals chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this seems a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
The writer began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – all unable to escape their backgrounds. The book includes the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Fascination and Incompletion
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
