Are you ready for some erotica? It seems thousands of women are who have, shall we say, embraced “Fifty Shades of Grey” a soft porn novel that had been the talk on mommy blogs, Facebook pages and in spin classes. The first book of a trilogy, it was published by a tiny independent press in Australia, and distribution in print has been limited But women have been finding the more discrete e-book pushing “Fifty Shades of Grey” to the top of the New York Times e-book best seller list and making it the No. 3 best seller on Amazon.
After a battle for rights, this week Vintage Books, part of the Knopf publishing group, will release new e-book editions of the trilogy. Weeks later will come a 750,000-copy print run of redesigned paperback editions. The book was written by British author named E L James, a former television executive. It is about an cruel and arrogant tycoon named Christian Grey and his relationship with a young, submissive student Anastasia Steele.
The New York Times quotes Lyss Stern, the founder of DivaMoms.com and one of the early fans of the series who said,“ “It’s relighting a fire under a lot of marriages. I think it makes you feel sexy again reading the books.” But another, Meg Lazarus, a 38-year-old former lawyer in Scarsdale, whose friends and acquaintances have been buzzing about the book, said, “I don’t get it. There’s a lot of violence, and this guy is abhorrent sometimes.”
Publishing executives said the word-of-mouth excitement accompanying “Fifty Shades of Grey” was reminiscent of that accompanying novels like “The Kite Runner” and “Eat, Pray, Love” And the book, called both “Twilight” for grown-ups and mommy porn, doesn’t need Oprah’s endorsement.
