If you’ve ever delved into the groundbreaking autofiction classic I Love Dick—or seen its 2016 TV adaptation directed by Joey Soloway, starring Kathryn Hahn and Kevin Bacon—you’re probably already familiar with Chris Kraus. The Bronx-born writer is also known for novels like Aliens & Anorexia, Summer of Hate, and Torpor, as well as essay collections such as Video Green and Where Art Belongs.
Kraus, who co-edits the publishing house Semiotext(e), has a new book out this week: The Four Spent the Day Together. It’s a blend of autobiography and true crime, focusing on a murder case in northern Minnesota and the bystanders drawn into its orbit. To celebrate the release, Vogue asked her to share the five books that shaped her into the genre-defining and remarkably prolific writer she is today. Here are her reflections.
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
First published in 1920, this overlooked classic is like an American Madame Bovary, set in early 20th-century small-town life. It follows Carol Milford, an independent and artistic social reformer, who meets and marries Will Kennicott, a country doctor, and moves to his hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota. Trapped in the monotonous social rounds of upper-middle-class women, Carol feels stifled until she becomes involved in an impossible romance with a young artist.
What stands out to me about Main Street is its expansive timeline, tracing the lives of this mismatched couple over many years. At the same time, Lewis meticulously details the transformation of a prairie settlement into a small American town, complete with backroom deals and land speculation. I admire the novel’s attention to detail and Lewis’s boldness in letting the story occasionally mirror the dryness and routine of real life.
The Eighth Moon by Jennifer Kabat
Kabat’s beautiful debut novel, published last year, recounts her and her husband’s decision to move permanently to the small Catskills town of Margaretville, long before remote work made upstate New York trendy. We were writing our novels at the same time, and both are deeply infused with a sense of place—each exploring the risk and excitement of stepping into parallel worlds. Jennifer’s deep curiosity about local history and botany also makes her one of the most striking nature writers I know.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Capote’s masterpiece created a new genre—the “non-fiction novel”—which may have paved the way for New Journalism in the 1970s. After the shocking 1959 murders of the Clutter family on their Kansas farm, Capote traveled to Holcomb and became close with the entire town, who shared everything with him. He also formed relationships with the killers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, whose actions exposed a rootless nihilism invading the town’s seemingly perfect mid-century American life. Capote’s meticulous detail makes it impossible not to feel empathy for everyone in the book.
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
This brilliant work is somewhat like In Cold Blood, but two decades later. Its roughly 1,000 pages document the childhood, crimes, and relationships of Gary Gilmore, a troubled and clever con man who inadvertently challenged the federal death penalty ban by demanding his own execution after a “speedy trial.” Like In Cold Blood, it was written before the internet era, when people spoke openly to researchers without fear of social or legal repercussions. Mailer captures the cynicism and decay of 1970s America like no other writer.
Edith’s Diary by Patricia Highsmith
One of Highsmith’s later novels, Edith’s Diary isn’t aThis isn’t just a crime novel or thriller—it’s a sharp psychological portrait of a woman uprooted from her Greenwich Village apartment with her husband and exiled to a Pennsylvania suburb. It feels like an intensified take on Richard Yates’s 1961 novel, Revolutionary Road. Left alone most days to care for her dangerously violent special-needs child, Edith grows more and more eccentric, bordering on deranged. Highsmith skillfully traces this decline over the years, making it impossible to pinpoint the exact moment Edith’s quirks spiral into madness.
Chris Kraus’s The Four Spent the Day Together is available now for $27 from BOOKSHOP.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of helpful and concise FAQs about Essential Reading The Five Books That Transformed Chris Krauss Life
General Beginner Questions
1 Who is Chris Kraus
Chris Kraus is a writer filmmaker and art critic best known for her groundbreaking semiautobiographical novel I Love Dick
2 What is this Essential Reading list
Its a curated list of five specific books that Chris Kraus has publicly stated had a profound lifechanging impact on her thinking writing and artistic perspective
3 Why should I care about what books influenced her
Exploring the books that shaped a major artist like Kraus can offer unique insights into her work introduce you to new literary styles and potentially transform your own perspective on art life and writing
4 Where can I find the actual list of the five books
The list is often discussed in her interviews and essays A quick online search for Chris Kraus essential reading or books that influenced Chris Kraus will yield articles and interviews naming them
The Books Their Impact
5 What kinds of books are typically on her list
Her selections often include a mix of critical theory philosophy feminist literature and unconventional novels They are known for being intellectually challenging and formally innovative
6 Can you give an example of one book and why it was transformative for her
A frequent mention is The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson It influenced Kraus by blending memoir with critical theory in a way that validated her own approach to writing about personal experience within a larger intellectual framework
7 Are these books difficult to read
Some can be challenging as they might combine narrative with dense philosophical concepts They are often considered rewarding rather than purely entertaining reads
8 Do I need to read these books in a specific order
No theres no required order You can start with whichever books description appeals to you most
Practical Application Common Problems
9 Im new to this type of literature Which book should I start with
If youre new start with the most narrativedriven book on the list which is often her own novel