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The new book is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this seems a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued 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 explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par