The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as her previous works.
From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work
The writer began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative unnecessary.
Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History
The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.
From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.
As someone who reads who favors precise prose of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par
