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This latest work is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

The writer was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature obsolete.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.

Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par