The new book features characters pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
