This latest work is populated with characters chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. At the same time, she seems to be making her own fresh start, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work
Kraus began as an creative who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.
Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – all unable to escape their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.
As a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's investigating the murder 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 overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
