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This latest work centers on protagonists pursuing new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

The writer started out as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, 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 addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader fond of refined literature of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par