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The new book is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par