The new book centers on individuals pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
The writer was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – all unable to escape their backgrounds. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the hostility and dread that drives an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
