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This latest work is populated with characters seeking clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.

As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the style that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed 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 comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. 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 Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par