The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the story. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this appears a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book
Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess 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 turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their histories. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader fond of honed writing of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on a reference site. 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 leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
