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The new book is populated with characters chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, because this seems a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Kraus was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states 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, encompassing three generations – all unable to escape their histories. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors crafted language of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when 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, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to 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