The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It makes sense that she now wants to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
