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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

The writer was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that current political era turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the character 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. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.

As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the container that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the central part. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. 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 was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par