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This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

The writer was originally an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the shock and immediacy 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 major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their histories. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the victim with the killer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par