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This latest work is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this seems a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

The writer started out as an creative who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona 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 Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.

As a reader drawn to crafted language of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par