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The new book is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, struggling to escape addictions or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, she is embarking on her own fresh start, as this presents as a new kind of book – fact-based, truly literary. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from self-debasement into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she states that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, relocating from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to refined literature of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section.

As a reader drawn to crafted language of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books returns in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par