The new book centers on characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, because this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.
From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic
The writer began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.
For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.
Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."
Frustration and Disruption
I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".
The Killing Story
So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.
Obsession and Unfinished Business
Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
