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This latest work is populated with characters seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" recur in the text. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this appears a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be filled with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, converting confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the following three compelling and abrasive novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. The book includes the tale of characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only a short distance from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

As a reader fond of refined literature of the kind Kraus herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. There is a novel degree of detail that allows space for minutiae, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". Kraus writes Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. The author states here that she dislikes the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her hero Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the eponymous day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her personal fixations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who comes alive partly through Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par