This latest work features characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit 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 alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to 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 converses with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
