The new book centers on characters chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
The writer began as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the story of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
