The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to explore different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
