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This latest work is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the kind that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a environment driven by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her professional designation altered from "author" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks 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 not understand, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par