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This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, since this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be filled with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a town largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par