It’s Time to Talk About 50 SHADES OF GREY
A few weeks ago, at a book club gathering in New York City, seven friends sat together talking about marriage. Some were married, some were engaged, and some were single. Although they all read fervently on their own, few had read the book for that month The Marriage Plot, or the book selected from the month before A Visit from the Goon Squad. The gatherings had become more dinner club than book club, which suited the busy women just fine.
After dinner and more than a few drinks, the group concluded dispensing marriage advice to a soon to be married attendee, and conversation turned to jobs, travels, and family. The women had met monthly for over four years and sex had rarely if ever been discussed. These were well mannered ladies, brought up in good homes (some might say puritanical, yes), who were taught that one should refrain from talking about sex, let alone talk about liking sex.
And then the tables turned. One member, intelligent, successful, and exceedingly proper, said, “Have any of you read 50 SHADES OF GREY?” The other women shook their heads; no they hadn’t heard of it, what was it about? And with that, the dinner club discussion was turned on its head.
The dam of pent up thoughts, emotions, questions, and ideas bust forth with a vengeance. It was the best book club yet, and 50 Shades of Grey was agreed upon as the official book for the month of May.
So, to be candid, what is the deal with 50 Shades of Grey? Why is it sweeping the nation selling literally millions of copies? Why are women, smart, educated, well read women, so obsessed? Why are women talking about it in boot camp and spin classes, at work, and at dinner with their husbands?
We all know the success is most certainly is not on its literary merit, and yet the story is compelling. Women are reading it in a day, and then lining right back up again to buy books 2 and 3, 50 Shades Darker and 50 Shades Freed. Yes, the sexual scenes are explicit and at times, quite disturbing, but it’s not just about the sex. It’s about an emotionally wounded man who also happens to be incredibly attractive, ridiculously wealthy, and an expert at pleasing his lady in the sack. A woman’s love is able to turn him around, bring him out of his miserable, damaged, and empty life and into a fulfilling life of love, marriage, and children. This is fantasy, and women can’t get enough.
Author E.L. James
Initially published online as Twilight fanfiction, E.L. James reworked the story and posted it on her website, 50shades.com. James made final revisions and published it as an e-book and print-on-demand through the Australian publisher The Writer’s Coffee Shop. After selling more than 250,000 copies, heavy hitting American publishing houses became interested and a bidding war ensued. Vintage Books, part of Knopf Doubleday Publishing group, won the rights, paying seven figures. A movie deal is in the works. In 2012 she was named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People.
But the question still remains: why this book? There are loads of erotic novels out there already. What about this one is so captivating? Is it the explicit sex? Is it that somehow, somewhere, it became trendy to read it, and has snowballed into an enormous movement? We’re not sure, but it’s enough to have landed erotic parody author Andrew Shaffer a lucrative deal of his own with his comedic take, 50 Shames of Earl Grey. It’s enough to have inspired Goodreads to create an infographic detailing the readership of 50 Shades of Grey and overall ratings by state and region. It’s enough to have women discussing sex freely, not just whispers at a bar or a bachelorette party. It’s enough to have libraries discussing whether or not to carry erotica. Libraries that have chosen to stock it have wait lists of over 1,000 anxious readers. The National Coalition Against Censorship has circulated a letter condemning libraries that have chosen not to stock it saying :
The idea that “erotica” should be categorically excluded from public libraries has no merit. Sexuality, an integral part of the human experience, has always been part of creative expression. As the late Justice Brennan observed, “Sex, a great and mysterious motive force in human life, has indisputably been a subject of absorbing interest to mankind through the ages.” Indeed, a library’s collection would be incomplete without the, by now classic Memoirs of A Woman of Pleasure (“Fanny Hill”), Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Tropic of Cancer or even Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. There is no rational basis to provide access to erotic novels like these, and at the same time exclude contemporary fiction with similar content.
This movement is out of control, and we can’t help but be captivated by it all.
Richard Perry/The New York Times
The Literary Man, of course, officially refuses to read such poorly written nonsense. However, we sheepishly have to admit that some of us on the literary team have crossed over to the dark side and bought the books. We had to see what all the fuss was about. Surprisingly, we read them with alarming speed. We were shocked by the lack of editing and poorly constructed sentences, and yet we couldn’t stop reading. In fact, we’re glad we read them.
So the question is, what say you, dear readers? Have you ventured into the fantastically unrealistic world of Christian Grey, and if you have, are you glad you did?
I haven’t read these yet and wasn’t planning on it (mostly because, as you mentioned, it’s poorly written nonsense). At the same time, many of my friends are sheepishly reading and enjoying them, so I might have to soon just to see what all the fuss is about.
Ha…I am so glad you did this post. i just mentioned the book in one of my posts from yesterday. And while researching for the post, I read a review about how terrible the book really is…meanwhile there has been a media blitz on how provoking and good it is…I still haven’t read but I plan to…curiosity kills the cat, but hey, I will sitll read it for my curious mind’s sake…Great post!!! I guess some writers just get fortunate…
My trouble with your well-written and interesting piece is that it takes place in this imaginary 1963 everybody “hip” or “activist” seems to live in these days.
Just as race relations are currently being treated as though half-a-century of progress has never occurred, even as the kids play at dressing-up like Big Brother and the Holding Company LP album covers and talk in an ancient hippie argot, similarly, this post begins with women out of Time, mysteriously transposed among us from a post-Korean War cocktail party, where parents are still “puritanical” and sex isn’t mentioned, let alone supposed to be fun.
Excuse me? Did the last fifty years of Feminist Revolution bypass your block?
Everything does NOT remain to be done all over again, dear friend. Seriously, when did history stop in this country? Yo!, check out Spengler’s theory of “pseudomorphosis” in Decline of the West. Cliff Notes Version: Your energies are being leached by a senile over-culture which is making you recapitulate their failed childhoods.
Just sayin’…
There are, without a doubt, plenty of places in 21st century America where people don’t talk about sex and are raised with “puritanical” parents. That didn’t vanish 50 years ago.
Herbork- we appreciate your comment, and understand your concern.
I wish we could say that this was an “imaginary” scenario. We are neither “hip” nor “activists” but are hard working writers, teachers, and business men/women. The women we reference are of course not a representation of all women in this country, but are real women. We agree that it isn’t right that in some parts of the country/in certain families today’s women aren’t told that sex can be fun, freeing, and openly discussed. It isn’t right, but it’s happening. Our take? If 50 SHADES OF GREY can get women back into talking openly about sex (the good, the bad, and the ugly), then we’re in support of that. As one friend has said, “if this encourages American ladies to get their kink on, I’m pro that.”
Thanks to you and The Literary Man for responding. I was being only a touch facetious, but I also much appreciate hearing first-person from you that alas! a lot hasn’t changed. This kind of social intelligence is part of what fascinates and impresses me about this terrific blog of yours, and I hope you won’t mind me occasionally popping off. All in fun among ink-stained wretches
Curiousity got the better of me & I started reading this on Tues night. I was addicted after the first chapter and read the first 8 chapters that night (in which there was no sex only an intense attraction ). Last night I read 2 more chapters one of which was sexy. I’m not sure how dark the book is going to get but so far its good. It’s well written and amusing. Will hold my full judgement for finishing it. Chapters 1-8 get the thumbs up from me but I suspect it might change by time I get to the end. I hope not as its the first book in ages that made me want to stay up late & keep reading.
I don’t think you should just pooh-pooh badly written books. In the past few years, I have come to the conclusion, that to become a better writer you must explore these terribly written, terrible conceived, terrible novels that can capture an audience on such a vast scale. What are the authors doing to make this happen? How can a large population ignore such a horrendously written piece of fiction? Two days ago, a well-spoken and educated young woman asked me what my opinion was about the phenomena that is 50 shades of grey and as a writer, how did I feel about this. I gave her a stock response because, quite frankly, I don’t know. I haven’t even looked inside the book. She was funny and intelligent but also admitted to reading 2 of these books. She thought that they were so badly written but pure page turners.
It seems that lately all I hear about is this book, “50 Shades of Grey”. I am not sure if I would read it or not. I don’t like trendy books, just because I hate hype. I’ve read some trendy books that weren’t “all that” but they had something…something compelling that a lot of readers are willing to put up with poorly crafted fiction because that kernel of substance calls to them. It’s probably the excitement of the central theme, the fantasy. I read romance novels on the sly, some are well written some are just okay. The well written ones are very satisfying and they have very erotic passages. If libraries ban erotica, they would need to clean out dozens upon dozens of romance fiction. Probably I will end up reading 50 Shades but I hope it’s not in any way traumatizing. Any comments on that from people who have read it all the way through?
Great post! Malcolm Gladwell should add 50 Shades to The Tipping Point and let us know what happened to get the books so mainstream. I personally think the rabid Twilight fanbase helped get the momentum rolling, but I have zero evidence to support my claim.
As for reading them, I am currently staying away for now – I think just to be contrary (not snooty, I swear! I have read and enjoyed plenty of smut, poorly written or otherwise) You know, just because everyone else is jumping off a cliff…
I will preface this by saying I haven’t read it. I read reviews that talk about this twenty-something, inexperienced character who has never had an orgasm who all of a sudden is having oodles of orgasms on demand with a billionaire (I guess we skipped over the unrealistic 26 year old millionaire and went straight for Zuckerberg). You lost me right there.
But I was talking about the popularity of the books and off the cuff I said it was because women just want to be controlled. I think it’s true, at least sexually, particularly by an unrealistically handsome, dominant lover. I am a professional woman with a serious job, magna cum laude degrees on my office wall, etc. Start the hate-mail. I stand by it.
there’s a difference between coming up with great ideas for stories, characters, plots, conflicts, etc and being able to write well.
Ah, what Rich said. I feel this way about every Dan Brown book I’ve chastised myself for reading. Coming up with an engaging plot idea, and writing it well are not the same thing. Haaaaving said that. . . why is it that so many people are reading poorly written books and enjoying them, and if this number is disproportionate to those who are reading more intellectual, better constructed works, what can I learn from that?
It’s really easy to blame it on the media, or the lack of the common man’s education, but folk and pop art is being devoured by the man and woman on the street. If my “better written” work is not, do I use excuses or do I learn from the phenomenon and adapt? Certainly if it can work for writers with poor sentence structure, a master of the language should be able to fare better. Or are we just that stuck on ourselves, proud of our cleverness, that we have lost our audience?
I think we all know the answer to why fiction that isn’t that well written can become so popular, in part it’s how things get published today. High concept is a must! A core plot/subject that begs for attention or gets massive attention makes publishers more excited. I just finished a well written literary novel set in Paris and at the end I can say I loved it and it was worth sticking out the first 100 pages before I could say that. I am so used to action packed, fast moving stories with high concept plots – because they are fun to read – that sometimes I have trouble “getting into” more interesting, complex stories. It’s like comparing a good European film to a Hollywood blockbuster. The story might be subtler in the former, but highly satisfying later because it has so much substance, but you have to get to it through the journey of reading it. The latter is fun to watch, spectacular eye candy, but leaves you feeling unsatisfied and empty afterwards.
You make some excellent points. Perhaps it is that simple–marketing, excitement and the money behind the promotion. However, I’m not sure it is wise or honest for us to put the whole blame on the corporate marketers and the masses whom they have convinced to like what they say is worth liking. Surely there is money out there enough to promote more subtle and satisfying stories. I don’t want to use ignorance of the “common man,” or arrogance of big business as excuses for our own failings. I’ve known too many artists who actually LIKE being less popular, and “special.” It’s a bit annoying and convenient. Surely if we are that smart, we can find the resources to do better. The alternative is I suppose that we continue letting big marketing own the keys to what is mainstream. The payoff is perhaps that we get to feel unique, and therefore uber cool.
I did used to go to some good writing conventions and listened to major agents and publishers talking frankly about the industry. For most writers the odds are not good. A gimmick, any advantage, connections are almost a necessity. They won’t be chosen purely on the merit of their work.
What can I say? You have to just love writing and love your work, whether or not you see financial benefits and fame. I am not sure I am the type of personality that could go out and promote myself and my work to the degree some writers I know do.
Yep. I follow you. I think it was Marge Piercy who said, “You have to like it better than being loved.”
My quandary right now is that I have a good gig writing for pay. I want to finish a novel. Back years ago I wrote one novel after another and never went the next step (sounds like a lot writers, I know). I think I might have the confidence to move forward but I know from published writers how disappointing the marketing and publishing process can be. They expected more, they worked harder than they ever imagined and didn’t see the results they expected. Writing articles and shorts is easy, less commitment and hey, it does pay with little effort from me, except a few days of research and writing. Not so with novels…that’s a big investment even though the process is gloriously rewarding in the personal sense.
I feel that way about poetry, which is probably why in the last twenty years I’ve barely submitted anywhere. Every publication, print or online, seems to have a different submission process too, so it’s a lot of work, sending out little submissions, with little reward. Maybe that’s part of why I’ve kept to writing in a shorter form as well. I’ve just now been getting back into the process, and I don’t know if I’d have the energy or strength to commit to novel length work. I admire you.
I have so many well-written books to read and so little time that I can’t afford to read junk food. I imagine these books are filled with MSG. Makes everything taste good, creates new cravings for even more junk food, and can, quite possibly, make everything else that doesn’t contain MSG taste like a dull substitute. My local bookstore sells “the grey books” but doesn’t recommend them. I just can’t read anything that’s poorly written/edited. I find it far too distracting. And I’ve never been one to jump on the pop culture bandwagon. I saw the Vagina Monologues way back when and thought it was good but overly hyped. That show was supposed to be “the one that got women talking about their vaginas and sex.” This book is just the latest in the long line (remember Madonna’s book, Sex, that had a metal cover you were supposed to “spank” closed) of trendy reasons for women to talk about sex—amplified by current FB-Twitter-hype culture. From my understanding, the “Story of O” that’s been around for eons was probably better written. And let’s not forget Anaiis Nin. What is really being purchased is the fantasy, as mentioned above, that a woman can save a desirable man from himself. I suspect it’s not about sex; it’s about salvation. Woman as Savior.
And although I’m not in a book group, I have read “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” Those ladies are “filling up on garbage” and missing a good read.
I haven’t even heard of it but I suppose I’m off the radar and so immune to any advertising, kinda stuck in the classics.. however I think everything is do with timing and so I guess it did so well cause people needed it again, and also not everyone has a keen eye for writing certainly not me, all I know is when something moves me or inspires me and sometimes you just need a book to escape into, sometimes you are too tired to have to read something in which you really need to think or try and establish what the person means and that’s why these books do so well. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing. I would be interested to read the book though simply because I feel I’m immune to erotic scenes which is quite scary, maybe erotic works better when its forbidden and pent up. Hmm Maybe these days because we seem to know every kind of sexual thing that someone does it has become less shocking.. hmm.
Sorry I’m infamous for digressing but it was on my thought path, so I must read that book to see if it has the same effect.
On another note, it really does pain me to hear people say that something is badly written, because if its an imagination thats alive then I can’t see the problem, but I don’t think like an academic, my brain just doesn’t work like that and its not for want of trying, maybe we are all designed in different ways. I really do wonder to myself that it must be like to be able to really understand everything or have the tools to understand.
And yes I’m well aware I possess poor writing skills, its just the way it is.. At least I write, at least I have the confidence to have my say.
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I am also at a loss as to why this particular poorly written book has sky rocketed when there are loads of other well written erotic novels out there racking up sales numbers in the hundreds, maybe thousands, but definitely not millions.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I dig yours & will be following with interest!
I enjoy fan fiction, so I might actually like these books… maybe. But I wouldn’t put them up there with Shakespeare or anything. You just got to have a line between guilty pleasure and promotable literature, ya know?
Since I don’t live in the US, I haven’t read it, but I have been reading Phil Torcivia’s parody at his blog… and loving it!
We are thrilled to see everyone’s thoughtful, respectful, and insightful comments on this post. All of your thoughts are truly appreciated and we love reading the discussions that are popping up!
I haven’t read it and I don’t plan to, but I do have friends and family who have talked about it during get-togethers.
I think the main reason for me personally to not pick it up is because I feel that we have this disconnection with intimacy and fulfill it sometimes with guilty pleasures. This obviously not being a harmful one. I’m a housewife, raising kids and making a living, maybe I just don’t have time to fit it into my always growing reading list. I choose to read books that make more of a difference in my life and not to indulge in something that will ultimately not do anything for me anyway. Maybe the readers are not happy or fulfilled… I don’t know, but if they enjoy it good for them.
Hi Elizabeth, at my age, I have seen plenty and read plenty. Your comment about disconnection with intimacy really resonates with me too. I haven’t read 50 Shades, but I might. I want to know what people are being influenced by. Someone recently brought up that title to my husband when he was talking to friends. Obviously the book is influencing our culture and people we know, so I am curious. I hope it’s not a bad influence. And I believe since pornography, etc. on the web is to easy to come by we have a lot of bad influences that are affecting relationships. Believe me, I am not a prude but I do solidly believe in relationships based on love and respect.
I agree… I have to admit that at first I was curious about all the hype, but once I heard about how explicit it was I make a decision to not read it.
What does your husband think about it?
I’m not prude either and totally agree with you on respect and love… my intuition tells me that this book may help the readers to believe that this is how their relationship should be and from what I know about it, it isn’t.
Nope, haven’t read it even after hearing discussions on it pop up here and there. But maybe like you I’ll have to go see what the fuss is all about, and perhaps read a random page or two to see if it holds my interest. Perhaps it’s the ‘poorly written nonsense’ that captivates the masses? That it’s not so much the content, the plot or how well it’s written that keeps you reading, but it’s that you can relate to the subject and read it anyhow you want, regardless of style? I don’t know … now I’m intrigued … I’ll have to go check it out! thanks for visiting my blog!
I initially did not want to read it. I went to Amazon and there were so many bad (and good) reviews about the book. But I went ahead and got the first one when I saw it at Target (20% off then). I read and read, and was appalled by the bad EDITING. oh my goodness, so many repeated lines, so many “Jeez”, some descriptions of the sex scenarios were also repetitive. It was quite irritating. But the STORY. It made quite an impact The story has a typical girl meets boy outline, attraction/seduction push-and-pull, gift wrapped with money, literature references, and of course the BDSM. The latter disturbed me in the beginning, being one unexperienced in this form of sexual relationship. but you read on.
I told my boyfriend it was gripping, not because of its literary prowess (goodness, no!) but it’s because it’s a woman’s fantasies coming to life – not just in bed, but in a relationship. who doesn’t want a man who’s decided to try? a man who, for all his shades of f*ckupness is fighting the urge to crawl back into his shell, and instead pushes on to battle his demons to keep her? i mean that is the kind of “prince” you want in your life. (At least I do.) Again, it didn’t hurt that he had all these talents (flying a helicopter? fluency in French? incredible with the piano?). It further fueled the fantasies, and actually had me pining for my own Christian Grey (sorry, love, if you’re reading this
haha )
And about the sex part? Highly recommended to read it, if only for experimental purposes. I mean, I’m not telling you I suddenly wanted to be a sub after reasing. And the parts on their contract negotiations did disturb me to some extent. But I believe, removing the clutter (the floggers, crops and chains…), it appeals to many readers because it opens up to other sexual, pleasurable possibilities, and the appreciation for the “conventional” properties of sex as well. Mr. Grey did say, “nothing plain or old about vanilla (sex)”.
I am currently a quarter way on the second book and their relationship is evolving, which is again, a reflection, albeit a bit muddled, of how relationships go. Or hope one hopes it would go. Aren’t relationships about love, communication and compromise?
Bottom line: loved the story, hated the writing, loved the sex, hated the writing. Did I say I hated the writing? JEEZ.
(crawls back to bed to continue reading..)
My wife loved it and she never reads this kinda stuff. She did not think is was the best writing she had ever seen, but she could not put it down and her and her friends joke about it often. It opened dialog with us that I did not think was closed?
All in all, though I have not read it… I liked it….
Is this the right moment to say that I had never heard of it?
I could not even finish it and I always finish books I start. They should have called it Fifty Shades of Sick. I felt shame for women everywhere when I read it. He treated her like a dog and she took it. I do not see why so many women like it. I’m not a prude, I like erotica, I just don’t like books that make me feel like I need a shower to wash the filth off when I stop reading. I would not let a man treat me like that and do not want to read about one. Its not sexy. It is degrading! That is just my opinion
That’s exactly what I am concerned about Cynthia. Maybe I won’t read it after all. The kind of women I know who are reading it and liking it, it baffles me, white upper middle class women. Now I have to ask myself – are they bored maybe? What’s going on here. If they’ve ever been mistreated I think the subject matter would make them ill. It concerns me, I am on the fence deciding if I should expose myself to something potentially disturbing just to satisfy my curiousity.
I wouldn’t. It is not worth the time or the damage lol. Of course, the hype is what made me open the book. My self-dignity made me close it without even finishing it. And I like erotica…I read it often. Fifty Shades just turned me off though.Maybe I should have continued the series. Everyone says it gets better in the second and third book. Maybe I would not have such an aversion to it now. But oh well, I talked myself out of it and I do not feel like I am missing out. (:
Oh I agree! There are plenty other good books that deserve our attention. Hype usually turns me off. Curiosity is the only thing that might entice me to check it out, but now I really think I’ll pass on it. I abhor the notion of subjugation and humiliation of either sex for the sake of sexual gratification. What it sounds like is described is not essential for sex, it’s about control and power and it’s so easily turned ugly. We can boycott it together!
Thanks so much for liking a recent post of mine! Read this post and the comments…I will also boycott these books. And I was reading and loving DH Lawrence–including Lady Chatterley’s lover when I was 14–for the excellence of how he wrote as much as what he wrote about. For me the quality of the writing is EXTREMELY important…just about anyone can fantasize a story and scribble it down. REAL writers know they have to work at their craft, and REAL readers don’t just jump on the bandwagon of the trash and drivel that money-driven publicity puts out there. I have too many well written, interesting and enlightening books waiting to waste my time on junk like 50 Shades.
I haven’t read it yet, for a couple of reasons. First, I hate to consider myself one of the lemmings and prefer to snootily hold out (there aren’t any snooty lemmings, are there?) Second, I really do love well-written books with depth and insight. Third, I have a BA in English and Creative Writing, and feel I would be squandering my proper education. These are my reasons and I’m sticking to them! However, my secret self wants to read this simply because I want to get off on the sex. As a 68-year-old female, I’m certainly not inexperienced, but, vibrator at my side, I do love a good sex scene–the more the gooder;-)