This latest work features characters chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who favors crafted language of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
