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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer began as an visual artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.

As a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy 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 her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par