This latest work is populated with protagonists pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned 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 United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
