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The new book features protagonists seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus was originally an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – all unable to escape their backgrounds. There is the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors precise prose of the style that Kraus herself often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels comes back in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "novelist" 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 investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par