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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals seeking clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the story. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the killer and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par