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The new book centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to try out different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what transpired when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app 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 boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par