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This latest work centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. At the same time, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

The writer was originally an creative who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into defiance. She kept producing books, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – all unable to escape their pasts. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to honed writing of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society driven by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par