The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an creative who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out fresh narrative sources, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise 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 a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.
As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."
Letdown and Fragmentation
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
