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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary 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 seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, authentically narrative. But then it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer was originally an creative who entered the literary world almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating personal female narrative from humiliation into defiance. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style infused into the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature 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 pasts. There is the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise 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 troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening segment. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she dislikes the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par