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This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. Yet it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing redundant.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing three generations – all unable to escape their pasts. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the kind that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par