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This latest work is populated with individuals pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this presents as a new kind of book – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be filled with the familiar conflicts and styles as earlier books.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

The writer started out as an visual artist who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the correspondence format brought to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she presently aims to explore different types of content, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a moment when she states that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, spanning multiple eras – none able to break free from their histories. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, relocating from the urban environment to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. And there is the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from Catt's cottage in rural Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the kind Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the literary tone of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus often disregards, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for trivial aspects, 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. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a nice toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words circulating in their speech like hard candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her hero author Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in the city's most challenging districts while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul moves between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment driven by the rage and anxiety that powers an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her professional designation altered from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the victim with the killer and his associates. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what transpired when the victim 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 alongside her friends, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and covering the cost of food and substances, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who comes alive partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par