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View all events for category: Literature & poetry

Chris Kraus: The Four Spent the Day Together

The author of modern classic I Love Dick introduces her unforgettable new novel, a witty, probing journey into a fractured America.

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On the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, at the end of the last decade, three teenagers shot and killed an older acquaintance after spending the day with him. No one knows why they did it.

At the time of the murder, Catt Greene and her husband, Paul Garcia, are living nearby in a house they’d bought years earlier as a summer escape from Los Angeles.

Undergoing a period of personal turmoil, Catt turns away from her own life and towards the murder case, which soon becomes an obsession.

Written in three linked parts, The Four Spent the Day Together explores the histories of three generations of American lives and the patterns that repeat over lifetimes, and is piercing commentary on the pressures of lives lived on the edge.

This event is chaired by Alex Peake-Tomkinson. A book critic and journalist for 19 years, Peake-Tomkinson currently writes for The Spectator, the Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement, among others. Prior to this, she worked in book publishing.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 16+
Event information

Copies of The Four Spent the Day Together are available to purchase as an optional add-on for £13.99 (RRP £16.99) when you buy a ticket to the talk. The book must be collected on the night of the event, as we’re unable to distribute copies afterwards.

For your visit

This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre

The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.