🔗 Share this article

The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she is embarking on her own fresh start, because this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. There is the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.

As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped 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 dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par