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The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer began as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par