This latest work is populated with characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
The writer began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader fond of polished prose of the type the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
Being a reader who favors precise prose of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about 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 often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure 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 struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
