The new book features characters chasing after fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this seems a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to try out different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex 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 murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par
