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The new book is populated with protagonists pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she is embarking on her own fresh start, because this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

Kraus began as an artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

As a reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par