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The new book centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. At the same time, she is embarking on her personal new beginning, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

The writer started out as an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she now wants to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing obsolete.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise 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. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par