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The new book features individuals pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

The writer began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says 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 online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the killer and his friends. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated 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 delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par