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This latest work is populated with characters seeking clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from humiliation into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition 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 progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the kind the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears 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 the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. The author possesses excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, 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