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The new book is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this seems a new kind of book – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the variety that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par