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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters seeking clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. Meanwhile, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this seems a different type of work – observational, truly literary. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer began as an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to honed writing of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for minutiae, like the container that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol 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 the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised 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 ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par