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The new book centers on characters seeking fresh starts, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. And yet, she appears to be undertaking her personal new beginning, because this seems a different type of work – fact-based, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be laden with the recurring issues and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Iconic Work

Chris Kraus was originally an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, transforming personal female narrative from self-debasement into rebellion. She continued writing, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels lacked the power and directness that the letter form infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had become a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she currently desires to try out new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative obsolete.

Three Generations, Collective Unavoidable Background

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. We encounter the story of a couple named Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the account of Kraus, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a locality mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of polished prose of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the opening part.

Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was captivated by the literary tone of the initial part. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the pail that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her cherished parent. "Look, an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the ambiguous meanings of language tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction audiences such as myself have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world driven by the rage and anxiety that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on Twitter, her occupation changed from "writer" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when the victim Brandon came to see Brittney after connecting via an application where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day with her companions, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for violent rage.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par