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The new book centers on characters seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this seems a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then 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 a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section.

As a reader who appreciates precise prose of the kind that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par