The new book is populated with individuals seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, she seems to be making her own fresh start, since this seems a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the narrative 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 real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
