The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists pursuing new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this seems a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Chris Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she states that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter 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 partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
