🔗 Share this article

This latest work centers on characters chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. The book includes the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par