[6stringmerc]

Agreed. Is it a reasonable historical survey of some famous writers? Sure.

Is it relevant to today? Maybe 5% relevant, if talking about how tastes and consumption habits change...because talking about 'literary fame' in this day and age, to me, is rather laughable. The culture of reading long-form pieces is in sharp decline.

...and one of the biggest monkey wrenches to address in 'literary fame' is the Twilight / 50 Shades of Grey notion of using public domain conceits, poor writing, and wish fulfillment (Twilight) to reach a particular type of audience, one that will embrace and make a derivative of that with even inferior literary qualities (50 Shades) and achieve fame.