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This latest work features individuals chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

The writer began as an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

As someone who reads who appreciates honed writing of the kind that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. At one point she states that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par