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The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals pursuing new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

The writer began as an artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature obsolete.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par