The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals seeking fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.
As a reader drawn to honed writing of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Fascination and Incompletion
Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
