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This latest work is populated with protagonists chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this seems a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – all unable to escape their backgrounds. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of honed writing of the kind Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the murderer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par