This latest work centers on characters pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this presents as a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
The writer was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader attracted to refined literature of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
