The new book features protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus began as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
