The new book features protagonists pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
