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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this appears a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. But then it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she claims that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, 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. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

For this reader fond of honed writing of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.

As someone who reads drawn to honed writing of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". The author narrates the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the perpetrator and his companions. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par