The new book is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – all unable to escape their pasts. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society fueled by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
