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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with individuals chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, as this seems a different type of work – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it proves to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as past novels.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels did not possess the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to explore different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she claims that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning three generations – all unable to escape their histories. There is the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a locality mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles 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 typically rejects, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial part. There is a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. 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 offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par