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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this seems a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.

Three 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 backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world fueled 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 "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par