The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this seems a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.
From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic
Kraus began as 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 confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards 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 divided into three sections, spanning three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.
Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment 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 Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par
