This latest work centers on characters seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. At the same time, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when a man named 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 in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
