This latest work is populated with protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
