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The new book is populated with characters chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the text. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it proves to be laden with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their backgrounds. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to polished prose of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who gains dimension partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par