The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. 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 filled with the same dilemmas and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she states that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
