This latest work centers on characters chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this seems a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. However it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
