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This latest work centers on protagonists chasing after fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, since this presents as a different type of work – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus started out as an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the opening part.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that drives an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par