This latest work is populated with characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an creative who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
For this reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
