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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to refined literature of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems 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 could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par