The new book centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, since this seems a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
