This latest work features characters chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she presently aims to explore different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.
Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure audiences such as myself 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 void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
