The new book centers on characters chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. However it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
The writer started out as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
