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This latest work features protagonists chasing after clean slates, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through its repetitions. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the text. Meanwhile, the author herself appears to be undertaking her own fresh start, since this presents as a new kind of book – observational, truly literary. But then it turns out to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus was originally an creative who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was significant attention on housing investments. It is logical that she now wants to experiment with new kinds of material, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she states that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from Catt's rural residence in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader attracted to refined literature of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates honed writing of the style that Kraus herself 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 start of the story, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a great plaything", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like piece candy". She tells Emma's story with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not hers, exactly."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I expected this fresh tone could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is trying to renovate multiple decrepit residences in the city's most challenging districts while moving between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as her spouse cycles through poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a world fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to be overly concerned about this. On one occasion she says that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the titular day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to visit Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, mooching around having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I found myself captivated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards accurate chronicling and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The most interesting character is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par