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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "fresh start", making it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. But then it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from humiliation into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the shock and immediacy that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a maverick maker who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with fresh narrative sources, turning outward to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. The book includes the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort Kraus herself often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the opening part.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author often disregards, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her past books reasserts itself in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the hostility and dread that drives an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but appears congenially to have passed the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par