The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, truly literary. But then it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension 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 the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
