Okri tells Sameer Rahim about his extraordinary rise from the streets of London to literary stardom.

The marriage to Ms. Reymond suffered as Mr. McInerney reveled in his newly acquired literary stardom.

Ms. Messud said she feared that some of those writers - particularly women whose literary stardom may be tethered to their physical appeal - must succeed commercially with their first books or risk being dropped by their publishers.

But then, at the very brink of possible literary stardom, comes sudden disaster.

The novel was critically acclaimed around the world, and catapulted Allende to literary stardom.

These severe assessments came from Arundhati Roy, who ascended into international literary stardom last year with her first novel, "The God of Small Things" (Random House).

Though he earned unequivocal praise from the likes of Richard Ford, Amy Hempel, and Philip Roth, Hannah never achieved the level of literary stardom many thought he deserved.

The Ottawa Citizen described Rick as "a writer clearly destined for literary stardom," while Penthouse said he was, "one of the leading thriller writers of the day."

Brooks's follow-up to Jampot Smith, Smith, As Hero, received glowing reviews in the national press in the UK and literary stardom seemed assured.

Such is the fate of an artist who's not merely willing but eager to collaborate; Carriere's working method is hardly a strategy for literary stardom.