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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it willfully cynical through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, because this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader drawn to honed writing of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par