The new book centers on protagonists pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader fond of refined literature of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
