This latest work is populated with characters pursuing new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
The writer started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that powers 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 the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
