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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, as this seems a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, converting personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She kept producing books, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to polished prose of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par