This latest work is populated with characters seeking clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this appears a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".
The Homicide Account
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened 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 amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par
