The new book features characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. At the same time, she is embarking on her own fresh start, because this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
