Fifty Shades of Grey?

[~Ally~]

i recently found a copy of shades of ****e left on my bookshelf after my parents visited. im ashamed of my dad, i looked up to him thinking he read good books. but now i discover he reads trash.

Did you ask your Dad if the book was his? In my experience it's mainly women that are reading this book. It may not be a nice suggestion to ponder but maybe your parents both wanted to read it? Apparently people have been using it as a guide to inject some spice into their marriages.

Shasta; I know I should have listened to you, me dear...I is a foolish foolish gal. But I have learned from my mistake. Eeewwww noooooo, his mommy desire was not revealed in the first book. Now I am even more repulsed that my friends could enjoy this trash.

[misterhamtastic]

I have not read this book, and can only comment as the spouse of one who is reading it, well, now the second. My wife was very inexperienced sexually, and I had encouraged her to slowly add to our bedroom menu. If nothing else can be said, the alt-sex relationship made her ask to try a few novel things, to include submission and such. While I taught her some less severe ways of doing things like bondage, such as holing a ribbon during sex to simulate being bound, yet maintaining control. On this basis, I see it favorably, if not my cup of tea. I think anyone "stuck" sexually in simple fare, that finds themselves wanting non-porn ways of expanding their interests, would do well with this series.

[misterhamtastic]

Is this going to be a movie? err. I read that the author is making over a million dollars a week. Could this even be possible?

From where I sit-people don't want complex entertainment. They want pretty basic, brainless tripe. If this is that, then of course it's a success.

[highland.hermit]

my mums not much of a reader. the rare time she reads its likely to be lena kennedy or something like that. she never even finished reading captain correlis mandolin when the book was given to her years ago.

[~Ally~]

I think anyone "stuck" sexually in simple fare, that finds themselves wanting non-porn ways of expanding their interests, would do well with this series.

Yar, I found the sex scenes boring...sorry, I mean, vanilla! They did nothing to excite me.
I'd rather watch a bit of porn. Yee~haw!

[not_nadine]

I wonder if SK has even bothered to comment on this book.

[jacobtlong]

Umm... never read this book and never will. But some folks I know were talking about it on Facebook. This book was banned in libraries down here in Mobile. If it weren't for this book getting banned I'd probably never have heard of it. But I suppose that's just the way things always work for me.

[~Ally~]

I wonder if SK has even bothered to comment on this book.

Yeh, he emailed me earlier to confirm his unequivocal agreement with my opinions. He gave me permission to pass on his sentiments; "It's literary ****e and I wouldn't even insult my ass cheeks by ripping it up and using it as toilet paper" were his exact words! But please, don't quote him on that. The man is discreet and private when it comes to criticising fellow authors. Just ask Stephenie Meyer.

[Todash]

self published......im not surprised, from what ive read by good book reviewers its not very well written. im saddened at the dumbing down of people that they all clammer to pay for this garbage

It's certainly awful, from the excerpts I've read. I have to wonder, however (especially having read comments by the author that this book has gotten people interested in reading who previously weren't), if many of the people who are enjoying this book really haven't read for pleasure* before.

Because I know I've said it in a joking manner, but actually I'm quite serious: these characters are much like the one-dimensional characters in a typical romance novel, of which I read quite a few as a young girl before I became sick of the sameness of it all. The men are always rich, handsome (or at least interestingly craggy/chiseled), imperious, and older/more experienced than the heroine. The heroine is always beautiful, thin—I do remember once reading a Harlequin that had a slightly chubby heroine, but as she fell in love and forgot to eat and whatnot, she had attained thinness by the time she and the craggy hero were making the beast with two backs—young, virginal, innocent, dewy-eyed. And the conflict, outside the ubiquitous sexual tension, usually revolves around a misunderstanding that could be resolved with a simple conversation: "Oh you're hot for me? And available? Awesome. I am also hot for you and available. Sexytimes!"

Anyway, my thinking is that maybe this sad little generic cardboard-tasting cookie of a book is just a first exposure* for a lot of new readers and that, as time goes on, they will realize a novel can be both engaging AND well-written.

*Double entendre not intended. Seriously.

[Bryan James]

"I wonder if SK has even bothered to comment on this book."

He learned that lesson.