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The new book centers on protagonists chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. At the same time, she is embarking on her own fresh start, because this appears a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader fond of refined literature of the type Kraus tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for small details, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. She still gives the impression to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par