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The new book centers on protagonists pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the story. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, because this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to polished prose of the type Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

As a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt 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 control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the anger and fear that underpins a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the actual killing – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par