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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters seeking clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this seems a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

The writer was originally an creative who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par