One Beerbohm is the minimal level of success necessary to differentiate a writer from a hackling and corresponds exactly to the posthumous amount of success enjoyed by the writer Max Beerbohm (1872-1956).
Fame and renown are therefore rated on the Beerbohm Scale. Max Beerbohm himself had a rating of one Beerbohm; Salman Rushdie has a rating of six Beerbohms; Gabriel García Márquez (the most famous writer in the world) has a rating of ten Beerbohms.
A rating of less than one Beerbohm (between zero and one) defines a hackling. A rating of exactly zero Beerbohms defines a norm or possibly a chicken or egg.
A negative Beerbohm rating may be possible but it is currently unclear how.
