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The new book is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the story. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this seems a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par