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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with characters chasing after clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", making it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Chris Kraus was originally an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she currently desires to explore new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature redundant.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the story of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, relocating from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the narrative of the author, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a town mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader fond of honed writing of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the opening part.

Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the variety that the author often disregards, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". Kraus writes the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as Paul cycles through low-resource employment as an recovery specialist in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what occurred as the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par