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This latest work centers on characters seeking clean slates, trying to break free from substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Chris Kraus repeatedly invokes the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her own fresh start, as this appears a different type of work – observational, authentically narrative. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her position as a nonconformist creator who had turned into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to experiment with new kinds of material, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a moment when she claims that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing three generations – each trapped by their histories. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the account of Kraus, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader fond of refined literature of the sort Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the container that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this different style could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she resents the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the central part. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on social media, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an America that her online critics would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the killer and his friends. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she sold sex pictures. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to go further into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl 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 complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par