This latest work centers on protagonists 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", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. Meanwhile, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, since this presents as a different type of work – observational, truly literary. Yet it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
