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The Four Spent the Day Together features individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the narrative. And yet, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this seems a different type of work – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as past novels.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that current political era renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing multiple eras – all unable to escape their histories. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, moving from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the character of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. And there is the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus typically rejects, I was seduced by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As a reader drawn to crafted language of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the container that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works returns in the central part. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, failing to help Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an recovery specialist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her online critics would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the titular day spent by the deceased with the killer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par