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This latest work centers on individuals chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this appears a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering three generations – all unable to escape their backgrounds. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

As a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par