The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
