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The Four Spent the Day Together centers on individuals chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to see hope turn into conflict. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They decided to make a fresh start" are scattered across the story. At the same time, the author herself seems to be making her own fresh start, because this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as missives to a distant beloved, transforming personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the power and directness that the letter form brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on housing investments. It makes sense that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a moment when she asserts that current political era turns intimate literature obsolete.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, covering three generations – all unable to escape their histories. The book includes the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, moving from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. Additionally the account of Kraus, in the guise of Catt Greene, grappling with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a community largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the type Kraus typically rejects, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors honed writing of the style that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that allows space for small details, like the bucket that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books comes back in the central part. Catt Greene is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between two different states, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to invest excessive emotion about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day experienced by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, mooching around fixing his automobile and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par