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This latest work features individuals seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this seems a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to honed writing of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is 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 Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par