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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer was originally an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par