A Look at The Four Spent the Day Together from author Chris Kraus – A Cult Writer Ventures Into Something New

The new book centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.

As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par