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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she currently desires to try out different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a moment when she claims that current political era turns intimate literature obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.

As a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "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 hoped this fresh tone could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she states that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par