The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters chasing after new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this seems a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
The writer began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
As a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that the author often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the killer and his associates. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I found myself captivated 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 own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
