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The new book features protagonists pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing three generations – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she dislikes the pleasure readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par