The new book is populated with individuals seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to explore fresh narrative sources, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Homicide Account
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
