A Look at The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus – A Renowned Writer Ventures Into Fresh Territory

The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, 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 narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to honed writing of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par