Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James.[1] It became the first instalment in the Fifty Shades novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism). Originally self-published as an ebook and print-on-demand in June 2011, the publishing rights to the novel were acquired by Vintage Books in March 2012.
book and shades of gray
Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world. It has been translated into 52 languages and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. Critical reception of the book, however, has tended towards the negative, with the quality of its prose generally seen as poor, while its portrayal of BDSM has been targeted for criticism from a variety of perspectives. Universal Pictures and Focus Features produced an American film adaptation, which was released on 13 February 2015,[2] and was also panned upon release, though it was a box office success.
The second and third volumes of the original trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, were published in 2012. The trilogy had sold over 150 million copies worldwide by October 2017. A version of the novel from Christian's point of view, Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian, was published in June 2015 as the fourth book, followed by Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian in November 2017 and Freed: Fifty Shades Freed as Told by Christian in June 2021.
This reworked and extended version of Master of the Universe was split into three parts. The first, titled Fifty Shades of Grey, was released as an e-book and a print on demand paperback in May 2011 by The Writers' Coffee Shop, a virtual publisher based in Australia.[5][6] The second volume, Fifty Shades Darker, was released in September 2011; and the third, Fifty Shades Freed, followed in January 2012. The Writers' Coffee Shop had a restricted marketing budget and relied largely on book blogs for early publicity, but sales of the novel were boosted by word-of-mouth recommendation. The book's erotic nature and perceived demographic of its fan base as being composed largely of married women over thirty led to the book being dubbed "Mommy Porn" by some news agencies.[7][8] The book has also reportedly been popular among teenage girls and college women.[8][9][10] By the release of the final volume in January 2012, news networks in the United States had begun to report on the Fifty Shades trilogy as an example of viral marketing and of the rise in popularity of female erotica, attributing its success to the discreet nature of e-reading devices.[11] Due to the heightened interest in the series, the license to the Fifty Shades trilogy was picked up by Vintage Books for re-release in a new and revised edition in April 2012.[12][13] The attention that the series has garnered has also helped to spark a renewed interest in erotic literature. Many other erotic works quickly became best-sellers following Fifty Shades' success, while other popular works, such as Anne Rice's The Sleeping Beauty trilogy, have been reissued (this time without pseudonyms) to meet the higher demand.[14]
On 1 August 2012, Amazon UK announced that it had sold more copies of Fifty Shades of Grey than it had any individual book in the Harry Potter series, although worldwide, at that time, the Harry Potter series had sold more than 450 million copies, compared with Fifty Shades of Grey's sales of 60 million copies.[15]
It has received mixed to negative reviews, as most critics noted the poor literary qualities of the work. Salman Rushdie said about the book: "I've never read anything so badly written that got published. It made Twilight look like War and Peace."[22] Maureen Dowd described the book in The New York Times as being written "like a Brontë devoid of talent," and said it was "dull and poorly written."[23] Jesse Kornbluth of The Huffington Post said: "As a reading experience, Fifty Shades ... is a sad joke, puny of plot".[24]
The book garnered some accolades. In December 2012, it won both "Popular Fiction" and "Book of the Year" categories in the UK National Book Awards.[34][35] In that same month, Publishers Weekly named E. L. James the 'Publishing Person of the Year', a decision whose criticism in the LA Times and the New York Daily News was referred to by and summarised in The Christian Science Monitor.[36] Earlier, in April 2012, when E. L. James was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World",[37] Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire criticised her inclusion due to the trilogy's fan fiction beginnings.[38]
Fifty Shades of Grey has attracted criticism due to its depictions of BDSM, with some BDSM participants stating that the book confuses the practice with abuse, and presents it as a pathology to be overcome, as well as showing incorrect and possibly dangerous BDSM techniques.[39][40]
Coinciding with the release of the book and its surprising popularity, injuries related to BDSM and sex toy use spiked dramatically. In the year after the novel's publishing in 2012, injuries requiring Emergency Room visits increased by over 50% from 2010 (the year before the book was published). This is speculated to be due to people unfamiliar with both the proper use of these toys and the safe practice of bondage and other "kinky" sexual fetishes in attempting to recreate what they had read.[41]
There has also been criticism against the fact that BDSM is a part of the book. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati said in an early February 2015 letter, "The story line is presented as a romance; however, the underlying theme is that bondage, dominance, and sadomasochism are normal and pleasurable."[42] The feminist anti-pornography organization Stop Porn Culture called for a boycott of the movie based on the book because of its sex scenes involving bondage and violence.[43] By contrast, Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean argue that "film fleshes out an otherwise legalistic concept like 'consent' into a living, breathing, and at times, uncomfortable interpersonal experience," and "dramatises the dangers of unequal negotiation and the practical complexity of identifying one's limits and having them respected."[44]
Several critics and scientists have expressed concern that the nature of the main couple's relationship is not BDSM at all, but rather is characteristic of an abusive relationship. In 2013, social scientist Professor Amy E. Bonomi published a study wherein multiple professionals read and assessed the books for characteristics of intimate partner violence, or IPV, using the CDC's standards for emotional abuse and sexual violence. The study found that nearly every interaction between Ana and Christian was emotionally abusive in nature, including stalking, intimidation, and isolation. The study group also observed pervasive sexual violence within the CDC's definition, including Christian's use of alcohol to circumvent Ana's ability to consent, and that Ana exhibits classic signs of an abused woman, including constant perceived threat, stressful managing, and altered identity.[45][46]
A second study in 2014 was conducted to examine the health of women who had read the series, compared with a control group that had never read any part of the novels. The results showed a correlation between having read at least the first book and exhibiting signs of an eating disorder, having romantic partners that were emotionally abusive and/or engaged in stalking behavior, engaging in binge drinking in the last month, and having 5 or more sexual partners before age 24. The authors could not conclude whether women already experiencing these "problems" were drawn to the series, or if the series influenced these behaviors to occur after reading by creating underlying context.[47] The study's lead researcher contends that the books romanticize dangerous behavior and "perpetuate dangerous abuse standards."[48] The study was limited in that only women up to age 24 were studied, and no distinction was made among the reader sample between women who enjoyed the series and those that had a strong negative opinion of it, having only read it out of curiosity due to the media hype or other obligation.[49]
Fifty Shades of Grey has often been challenged, banned, and removed in the United States. The book landed on the American Library Association's Top 10 List of Banned and Challenged Books in 2012 (4), 2013 (4), and 2015 (2) because it is sexually explicit and unsuited for the age group; has nudity and offensive language; and for religious viewpoints.[52] Challengers also stated the book was "poorly written," and they were concerned "a group of teenagers will want to try [BDSM]."[52] Ultimately, the book became the eighth-most banned book between 2010 and 2019.[53]
In March 2012, branches of the public library in Brevard County, Florida, removed copies of Fifty Shades of Grey from their shelves, with an official statement that it did not meet the selection criteria for the library and that reviews for the book had been poor. A representative for the library stated that it was due to the book's sexual content and that other libraries had declined to purchase copies for their branches.[54] Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the American Library Association commented that "If the only reason you don't select a book is that you disapprove of its content, but there is demand for it, there's a question of whether you're being fair. In a public library there is usually very little that would prevent a book from being on the shelf if there is a demand for the information."[54] Brevard County public libraries later made their copies available to their patrons due to public demand.[55] 2ff7e9595c
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