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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals seeking new beginnings, struggling to escape addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, since this appears a novel form of writing – observational, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be packed with the recurring issues and styles as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Kraus began as an artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the epistolary style brought to the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a period in which she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing redundant.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering multiple eras – none able to break free from their backgrounds. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the type the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the kind that the author often disregards, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the referenced day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par