This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. Meanwhile, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as her spouse transitions between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
