No, Ernie has a point. I could quote the book directly, but suffice it to say that the girl is 23 and a virgin when she meets the bloke. He tells he that he doesn't make love, he [LIFTED] and he offers her a contract to be his submissive. At first she finds the idea hot, then repulsive, then she's concerned about "real love" and how she deserves better. This is my point.

All women want a bad boy in a book, and are drawn to them in real life, but they don't make for good long-term relationships. That's why all the good selling girlie books start out at bad boy and have the girl "tame" the guy to an extent and/or "give in" over the course of the book. It's a tale as old as time and I find it interesting that they are willing to look past the [LIFTED] writing to be thrilled by it.

There are lessons to be drawn for both sexes in how to communicate with, and act around, each other IMO. Dependent on your objectives of course!

The worst [LIFTED] film I've ever seen.

I think we might be talking at cross-purposes. IMO, the reasons for it's success are not complex or deep. If you combine two of the more common female fantasy figures into the antagonist (although that's to quite the right word) of your book you're going to get a lot of women buying into it. It's the same basic logic behind a lot of page 3 girls being blonde and having large chests. If you're sensible in business, you try to attract the largest target market. It kind of reminds me of the episode of Black Adder 3 with the dictionary and Edmund's book...

I simply don't think there's much to be read into it beyond that. The idea that it tells us anything new about the world/each other doesn't really wash for me. As far as the mainstream press goes, the revelation seems to be 'women actually like some sorts of pornography'. To which my response would be 'you really need to get out more'.

It reinforces the point that men and women do consume adult content in different ways but again that's not actually something we didn't know before now.

Jon

Mills and Boon amongst others have been knocking out the basics for years, they just didn't have the BDSM element. What I find interesting for example, is that nearly all the women in my office are reading it and saying how great it is, but there's next to no chat about the straightforward romance/sex and certainly none of the kinkier stuff.

Also, when I showed them the e-fit picture that supposedly best fits female radio listeners description of the bloke, every one of them said it wasn't how they saw him. In fact, they weren't keen on him at all really... The guy seems to be story-generic enough to allow women to tap into something they maybe hadn't given much thought to ie whips and chains. But they still won't talk openly about it that much, my guess.

Edit for those who may be left wondering about the pic:

No Jon, you're right. It probably isn't new. But it's interesting to me because of the (social)media attention and shockingly bad writing. Maybe the latter's happened before, but the former certainly hasn't, to my knowledge. Prior to THIS book, I wasn't able to have rational and interesting conversations with women about a book of this nature. Now I can.

Possibly not. I think this is a coincidence though - there was bound to be 'a book' that did this sooner or later given the prominence social media now has. I don't think this particular book has done anything special to engender it.


I'm not sure I could have any rational conversation about that book beyond 'please for god's sake find something less crap to read'.

Jon

The reader tablet effect (cheap, can be read in 'secret') getting it started, then the obvious business decision of printing it? I guess it's about when word of mouth made it snowball

Shock: US Teens enjoy reading bad lit-pr0n.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/the_hot_sex_text_zx2AW5DO7h40whfZSHG1kO/0

I've 'read' the first book.
I find it interesting that it's so popular, given that we're (mostly) all about female equality and so forth. The portrayal of men in the book is a little worrisome too, in some regards.




Thank you - I've been sketching about the link between this book and Twilight. Something irritates me about both of them and that would explain a lot.

I prefer Jesse Adler Olsen or Nelle Neuhaus personally, but not bad.

Anyone following 50ShadesOfSh*t on twitter? It's funny and very obscene.

I don't think 50 shades sounds all that new.the Story of O was written in the 50s, as was Emmanuelle. As far as I am able to tell without going to the trouble of reading any of these books, 50 shades sounds like those two mixed with a bit of Jane Austen. The only novelty appears to be prose that would make Stieg Larsson or Dan Brown look like Nabokov.

*Makes note*

You could be bang on the money there. I forgot about those two.

But I suppose lots of men will put up with [LIFTED] movies to see boobs. So it's just the girlie, literary equivalent.