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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she currently desires to explore different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning 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 lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par