The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As someone who reads who appreciates crafted language of the style that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
