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This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this seems a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing 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 allows space for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par