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The new book centers on protagonists pursuing fresh starts, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

Kraus was originally an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from self-debasement into assassination. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering three generations – each trapped by their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader drawn to honed writing of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the anger and fear that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par