The new book is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this seems a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
The writer started out as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.
Being a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
