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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this seems a different type of work – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to explore different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.

As a reader who favors precise prose of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" 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 departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par