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This latest work centers on characters chasing after clean slates, trying to break free from drugs or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Chris Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the text. And yet, she seems to be making her personal new beginning, as this seems a new kind of book – fact-based, authentically narrative. However it proves to be laden with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer started out as an visual artist who became a writer almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, which was composed of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form brought to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a renegade artist who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It is logical that she currently desires to try out different types of content, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative redundant.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their histories. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the type Kraus herself typically rejects, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the kind that Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the first section. It exhibits a new quality of attentiveness that accommodates small details, like the pail that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could continue through the novel. Kraus says here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction readers like me have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her idol Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her previous novels comes back in the central part. Catt Greene is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting her husband manage his alcohol use. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world driven by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she might be able to learn something about an the United States that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his companions. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired 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 often been institutionalized for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The most interesting character is Brittney herself, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she fails to enact these dialogues. The complete segment feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par