The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the story. At the same time, she is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
Kraus started out as an creative who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. 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 funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
