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The new book centers on individuals pursuing fresh starts, trying to break free from drugs or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this appears a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. Yet it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer began as an visual artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the correspondence format imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to try out different types of content, looking outwards to external narratives, at a time when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their backgrounds. There is the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books returns in the central part. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day passed by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has great source material, and reconstructs step by step what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that her narrative ends almost mid-par