The Four Spent the Day Together from Chris Kraus – A Cult Writer Explores Fresh Territory

The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

The writer began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she states that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par