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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, she is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this seems a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to see 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 with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par