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This latest work centers on characters pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this presents as a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

The writer began as an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She continued writing, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.

As a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par