The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, she is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.
From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic
Kraus was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to try out different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.
Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "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 Killing Story
So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
