This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
