The Four Spent the Day Together features protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. However it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book
Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion 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 online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the deceased with the killer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
