The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus – A Cult Writer Explores New Ground

The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this seems a new kind of book – fact-based, truly literary. However it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

The writer started out as an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this 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 makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par