The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, since this appears a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she presently aims to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.
Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that the author often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her online critics would not understand, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
