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The new book centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, since this appears a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to try out different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the story of characters 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 character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the kind that the author often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the killer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par