The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
The writer was originally an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform 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 fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
