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The new book is populated with protagonists pursuing fresh starts, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

The writer began as an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much 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 America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par