The Four Spent the Day Together features characters seeking fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
For this reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the style that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
