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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus began as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – all unable to escape their pasts. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the first section.

Being a reader drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could last out the book. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels returns in the second segment. Catt Greene is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that drives an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what happened when the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension partly through Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par