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This latest work features characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to try out different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As a reader drawn to honed writing of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the victim with the killer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues 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 accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl 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 oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par