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The new book features characters seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the text. Meanwhile, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. Yet it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

The writer started out as an artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the correspondence format infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing 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 pasts. We encounter the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to polished prose of the type the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the opening part.

As a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. There is a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the untidy aesthetics she has in common with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul control his drinking. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her social media opponents would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to 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