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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the story. And yet, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this presents as a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus started out as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It makes sense that she presently aims to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader drawn to honed writing of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a society driven by the anger and fear that powers an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day experienced by the victim with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what transpired when a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par