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The new book is populated with characters chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it willfully cynical through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this seems a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it turns out to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she now wants to explore different types of content, turning outward to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader drawn to honed writing of the type Kraus herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a society driven by the hostility and dread that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par