🔗 Share this article

The new book centers on individuals chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, as this presents as a different type of work – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist 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 new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par