🔗 Share this article

The new book is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this seems a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – all unable to escape their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par