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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this seems a new kind of book – documentarian, authentically narrative. But then it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the persona of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.

As someone who reads drawn to precise prose of the style that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the murdered individual with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, 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