The new book is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
The writer was originally an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – all unable to escape their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As a reader who favors precise prose of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to see 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 with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
