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The new book centers on protagonists chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, as this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. 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 partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section.

As a reader who favors crafted language of the variety that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates small details, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, wandering about fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par