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The new book is populated with individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this presents as a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par