SMIRK
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Notes on prison love, Shkreli, and celebrity couples
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Notes on prison love, Shkreli, and celebrity couples

This is some additional commentary on recent SMIRK sections "Falling in Love over a Contraband Phone" and "A Shkreli in Love."

In recent SMIRK sections, I finally dove into the material that this serialized memoir revolves around: how the “falling in love” part actually happened, and what that looked like.

What I can say that I have definitively learned from the experience: It is absolutely awful to be a “celebrity” couple, and to have the complexity of human connection reduced to soundbytes and forced into a shape deemed palatable for public consumption.

Whatever Martin Shkreli and I were to each other, I think the evidence is clear enough that the feelings were real…and mutual. However, it’s obvious that the relationship could not survive when subjected to the judgment of the masses (including Martin’s fans, the legions of disapproving journalists…and everyone else).

I know I only had a very brief taste of the “celebrity couple” treatment. But I have no idea how real celebrities handle it. No one should have to somehow make who they love fit a “personal brand,” or even worse, a corporate brand.

Anyway, you can read more in the recent related sections:

A Shkreli in Love

Falling in Love over a Contraband Phone


There is still a lot more to come in SMIRK, so stay tuned for more posts!

SMIRK is a reader-supported serialized memoir. Sign up here for free occasional posts (and previews), or for paid access to get complete posts and the full archives. Patrons of SMIRK will also receive a free eBook when SMIRK is complete (ETA May 2023).

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SMIRK
SMIRK (audio version)
My experiences uncovering the story of, and falling in love with, Martin Shkreli.