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The new book features protagonists pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of 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. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to honed writing of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling 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 Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par