The new book features protagonists chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this appears a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering multiple eras – all unable to escape their pasts. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then 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 Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader attracted to honed writing of the type Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par