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This latest work is populated with protagonists chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself seems to be making her own fresh start, since this presents as a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader attracted to refined literature of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that the author often disregards, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for trivial aspects, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her beloved father. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide 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 see".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim 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 in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, 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 compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par