This latest work is populated with individuals pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus was originally an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
