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This latest work centers on characters pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that the author often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par