“Today Smith-Ruiu is primarily remembered for having revived the ancient βίος genre, synthesizing it with his earlier work in the vein of metafiction, and, not without controversy, making a fine career for himself as the author of customized “life-portraits” for a number of the most prominent personalities of the early 21st century. After innovating this technique with his 2026 portrait of Maya Hawke, he went on to create similar βίοι for Greta Thunberg, Clavicular, Serena Wiliams, and Xi Jinping, among others, though critics generally agree that these were little more than a cynical cash-grab, and lacked the raw inspiration of his earliest effort in this genre.” —Jared Oyuwole and Pippy Genovese (eds.), The Collected Works of Justin Smith-Ruiu, London: Öpik Editions, 2049, Series 11, Volume 4, Introduction, pg. xxiv.