This latest work centers on individuals chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
