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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists pursuing clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", making it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from humiliation into defiance. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – each trapped by their pasts. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the variety that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "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 different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par