The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
