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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim 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 with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par