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This latest work centers on protagonists seeking clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", rendering it deliberately jaded through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the text. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and styles as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, elevating confessional female writing from self-debasement into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her position as a maverick maker who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the story of characters Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Additionally the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the container that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this fresh tone could persist to the end. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. Catt is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day alongside her friends, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par