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This latest work is populated with individuals pursuing new beginnings, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

Kraus began as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the middle section. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the victim with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is 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 struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par