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The new book features protagonists seeking clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. And yet, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par