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This latest work is populated with individuals seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an creative who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par