This latest work centers on characters chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this seems a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language 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 precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
