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The new book is populated with individuals pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this seems a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate 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 histories. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

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. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par