Walk of Fame [Hardcover]

Sharon Krum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2001

Tom Webster is a dreary nobody; nice enough, but neither a head-turner or a hell-raiser, until he's given the opportunity to become an uber-celebrity. The assignment:A major magazine gives Tom30-days in which to make himself famous, using any, and they mean any,means necessary.The pay-off: Fame, glory, and $100,000.When the assignment spins out of control, Tom takes a wild ride on the celebrity machine with a B-list film actress who wants to be working on Shakespeare in the Park rather than her buxom physique, her slimy agent, his best friend, (who happens to have stolen his wife), a boss desperate to capitalize on Tom's celebrity, and a fame obsessed magazine editor who wants a finished article from Tom above all else.As his level of fame escalates, Tom becomes trapped in his own lies and the cult of celebrity - while everyone around him grabs their fifteen minutes. And then, just when everything seems perfect, Tom will make the decision of his life- turning the tables on the paparazzi, the hangers on, and his scheming counterparts.AUTHORBIO: Sharon Krum, originally from Australia, is a freelance journalist living in NY. She pens articles for major fashion and newsmagazines around the globe. This is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I am forty-three years old and have failed to make a dent in anyone's life": so says Tom Webster, the narrator of Krum's knowing, cynical debut about the shallowness of fame in America. Texas native Tom is now a New York City business writer whose wife left him a year ago for his best friend, Jake. Though he may be lost, he doesn't think of himself as a loser. He's obsessed with history John Wilkes Booth, in particular and can't manage to stay mad at Jake. Then an extraordinary thing happens to this ordinary man: a glossy magazine offers him $100,000 to write an expos‚ of overnight fame. His mission is to somehow make himself famous in 30 days, after which he must expose himself as just a sham in the tell-all article he's supposed to pen. To that end, Tom enlists the help of B-list actress Alexandra West, who wants to be taken more seriously and who is willing to allow Tom to use her even as she uses him. Soon their Marilyn Monroe-Arthur Miller relationship is in the tabloids and people Tom's intimates, the media, the general public certainly begin to react. As things spin out of control and Tom's surreal new existence encourages him to lie, the question becomes whether or not success will spoil Tom Webster. There's lots of filler here as well as Australianisms on the part of native Australian Krum that someone somewhere should have adjusted Tom often sounds more like Bridget Jones than a Texas transplant. There are no stunning revelations, but the end result is an agreeably smart and amusing story about what most sensible people already know: fame in America is not necessarily based on merit. Agent, Barbara Zitwer Alicea.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Poor Tom Webster leads an everyday life. After his wife leaves him for his best friend, Jake, Tom falls even lower on the boredom scale. When approached by a quasi-intellectual magazine to prove that anyone can become a celebrity, even ordinary forty-something Tom Webster, he signs away his dull (although private) life to mix with the famous. He convinces Alexandra West, a Pamela Anderson-type actress, into meeting publicly. But the arrangement more than satisfies Alexandra, as she is looking to acquire more serious and less scantily clad roles, and soon the public begins to see beyond her looks as she and Tom become an item. Of course, this set-up doesn't work out the way that Tom hopes, the admiration he receives from his coworkers is temporary, and his private life vanishes. But, despite a predictable plot, Krum's sharp, funny dialogue and good characters keep readers wondering what will happen next. Michelle Kaske
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031227310X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312273101
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,646,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inducted into the Hell of Fame, February 8, 2002

By 

tamara (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walk of Fame (Hardcover)

To buy or not to buy? -- or to borrow from the library? Buy this one. Hilarious and poignant, it's one of the best reads I've ever had. Ever.

Average-guy, history buff, overweight financial writer Tom Webster, who bills himself as Tom The Okay (as compared to his heroes Alexander the Great and William the Conqueror) is about to get a taste of celebrity. "The Vulture," a pop-culture magazine, assigns him to concoct a scheme -- any scheme -- so fabulous that it will gain him instant fame. His mission: keep the scam a secret from everyone and keenly observe the ways his new-found celebrity status changes the way he's treated by everyone from his best friend to his doorman and all the hangers-on in between.

Tom does put together a fantastic scheme. He becomes obscenely famous. The reactions of those around him are positively delicious. Especially satisfying are the stunned responses of his ex-wife and of his best friend (who also happens to be the ex-wife's new squeeze). Krum is a wonderful suck-you-in writer and the reader shares Tom's marvelous adventure in full. Krum also has a magnificent sense of humor and the pages positively rollick. Warning: don't pick it up on a night you hope to get to sleep early.

Tom doesn't escape fame's hell -- the Tabloid ambushes in the men's room, the sordid rumors of wrongdoing, the foisting of designer clothing freebies that make him look like "the love child of Keith Richards and Queen Victoria." Despite the fantastic happenings, the book always rings true. A most satisfying read that leaves you with astute observations of a culture gone celebrity mad. I can't wait for Krum's next book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Celebrity Handbook, May 15, 2001

By 

Brian Devinney (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walk of Fame (Hardcover)

Think you can handle the media pressure following your single appearance on "Survivor?" Their names in the gossip columns, reporters digging through their trash, rumors and innuendo flying about. Your personal life will constantly be examined, reexamined, and every facet of your life will be painfully detailed. This is not an easy task as shown by Debb Eaton during the finale. For her, the scrutiny she faced was not worth the three days she spent in the Outback. In her book, "Walk of Fame," Sharon Krum takes a deft jab at the world of manufactured celebrities and the media that feeds into them. It's a handbook for all budding superstars who want reality TV to be their next step to stardom.

Tom Webster is an unassuming writer for a financial magazine whose love of history has left him wondering if he shot a president if anyone would know who he was. His wife left him a year ago for his best friend and his weekly 800-word column hasn't won him fame or fortune but all of that is about to change. For $100,000, Webster must make himself into an overnight celebrity and then write an article detailing his meteoric rise to stardom - exposing himself as a fraud while simultaneously exposing the dark underbelly of the media machine. Aligning himself with Hollywood bombshell Alexandra West (who feels she is in need a makeover in order to be taken seriously by the Hollywood machine), the duo become the topic of conversation in gossip columns all over the country. In turn, his mother worries, his friend (yes, the one who stole his wife) fumes, his wife seethes, and the public hungers. The offers of book and television deals come fast and furious as well as the comely smiles and winks from women that wouldn't have given him a second look prior to Alexandra West.

Sharon Krum deftly writes through the voice of a man. So well, in fact, you forget that it's a woman writing the novel. There are several laugh out loud moments when the utterly unexpected happens and several moments when you actually feel for Tom. Has he gotten himself in over his head? "Walk of Fame" is a wonderful expose on the power of the media to take an ordinary man and make him into a star. Not only does the fame affect the person, but their friends and family as well. The pressure that all quarters feel is overwhelming as the media clamors for more information about the lowly financial columnist who is now the talk of the nation. The cynicism with the search for fame and the problems it brings shows the barebones reality of being a celebrity. This book truly answers the question, "At what cost fame?"

So, before you send in that application to be a contestant on the next reality show, check out "Walk of Fame," currently available in bookstores and on Amazon.com. Know what you are in for before it actually happens.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner!!!, May 1, 2001

By 

Norman Steiner (New York City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walk of Fame (Hardcover)

Once I got started, I found I was reading and reading and reading. Something very rare for me!! I haven't gone through a book so quickly since reading James Clavell many years ago with something as funny as Tom Sharpe!!! I wish I could be Tom Webster!

Although written by a woman, it is not apparent in the reading. She seems to get into the male psyche very well. Like any book you enjoy, you just don't want it to end. What happens next???

It's just a lot of fun to read, what more can I say!!