The Four Spent the Day Together by author Chris Kraus – An Iconic Writer Ventures Into Fresh Territory

The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this appears a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus began as an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – each trapped by their histories. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of 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. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that the author often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par