The Four Spent the Day Together

"Yes. While I have you, let me draw your attention to Chris Kraus’s The Four Spent the Day Together . Kraus, the avant-garde author of I Love Dick , offers a new freewheeling autofiction in which the main character, ‘Catt’ becomes obsessed with a grim real-life murder in northern Minnesota around the time that her own partner relapses into alcoholism. Krause has explained that, while attempting to report the case in a true crime style reminiscent of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood or Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song , she “started to realize that it was not possible to write that kind of book anymore.” They “took place in backwater towns, pre-internet, where people really thought they were invisible. Everyone, the perpetrators, the defendants, the judge, the whole community, would just pour their hearts out. That’s not happening now.” However, while researching she was struck by the similarities between the depressed mining town in which the murder took place and the working class Connecticut community in which she herself grew up. Those parallels then formed the core of the book, which wrestles with class in contemporary America, addiction, and—as ever—art. (Out Oct 7.) It’s exciting to see so many new books from big-hitter authors after what felt like a quiet summer. Each of these books has been eagerly awaited, and we’d love to know what you think. Let us know on social media—or send us your own personal watch list of notable novels in Fall 2025."