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The new book centers on characters chasing after fresh starts, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", making it willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her own fresh start, because this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

The writer started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the literary tone of the opening part.

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the style that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt frees from the ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation 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 Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt speaks to 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