This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – each trapped by their histories. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to refined literature of the type the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.
As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
