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This latest work features characters seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

The writer was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to try out different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to honed writing of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "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 last out the book. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par