The Necessary Biography of Elysia Martinez-Smith by Ezra Speckman

The Necessary Biography of Elysia Martinez-Smith by Ezra Speckman is the story of – as the title indicates – Elysia Martinez-Smith, a twentysomething writer, podcaster, and self-made media mogul. Told in chronological, protracted scenes, the biography follows her from her childhood growing up in Chicago’s north-shore suburbs; through her college years as an on-campus student leader at nearby Northwestern University; through her work as a blogger for the Trump-era feminist outlet SmileLess.org; culminating with her ascent to thought leader, content creator, and founder of her own website, the progressive-minded news collective Beecher Media Network. 

The “biography” is framed as a found text: Ezra Speckman, the work’s author and a former friend of Martinez-Smith’s, left the work unfinished; as such, it is presented to the reader as containing his notes and marginalia. Through these notes, inconsistencies in Martinez-Smith’s character – and Speckman’s motivations – emerge.