The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters seeking clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus was originally an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated 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 most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl derailing 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 strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
