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The new book centers on individuals seeking clean slates, struggling to escape substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They decided to make a fresh start" appear throughout the story. And yet, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, because this appears a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. Yet it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an creative who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing redundant.

Multiple Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the narrative of the author, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one troubled youth by another in a town long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader attracted to honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the first section.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the variety that the author usually avoids, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she says; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was bound to become frustrated when I wished this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the rage and anxiety that drives a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her occupation changed from "author" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she sold sex pictures. He was hoping for sex but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has often been institutionalized for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards ethical reporting and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the degree that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par