The new book features protagonists pursuing new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
The writer started out as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
