The new book is populated with protagonists pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. However it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.
From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work
The writer began as an creative who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader drawn to honed writing of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.
As a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors 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 victim with the killer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
