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The new book is populated with individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. But then it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified 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 investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par