The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus – A Cult Writer Attempts Fresh Territory
The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this seems a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, 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 hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit 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 individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
