Tuesday, May 15, 2012

50 Shades of Crack!

"What is this 50 Shades of Grey I keep hearing about."  I asked my friend.
"It started out as fan fiction and got so popular the author got a publishing deal."

Oooh okay. 

On Twitter I asked why it is so popular and someone replied that it was Bella and Edward fan fiction.  OOOOOHHHHH!  Okay. 

Since then I've been running into readers more and more.  "It's like crack." Rachel from Parajunkee commented and so I attribute her to the title of this post.  She is actually doing a read-along and while I'm not participating, I'm keeping up on her observations which are quite enjoyable.   

People are all aflutter over this book, so I thought I'd list a few of my encounters with the "50 Shades" phenomenom.

1. I went to get my haircut and asked my hairdresser what she was reading (since it was sitting open and folded on her station and I couldn't see the front or back cover.) 
She looks down. "It's trash."
I give her a questioning glance.
She flips it over to reveal 50 Shades of Grey.

2. Last weekend when I was in Pittsburgh, I found a huge Barnes and Noble.  I went to the information desk to see if they had a horror section.  A harried woman came rushing up. "Do you have 50 Shades of Grey?  They didn't have it up front!"  The employee reaches behind her and pulls a book from the cornucopia of Grey books they must have.  Another woman in line exclaims that she wants her book club to read it. 

Oh yeah, they had no horror section.

3. I was in the doctor's office making an appointment.  The receptionist looks at the book I'm holding and her voice rises in excitment.  "Is that 50 Shades of Grey."
I turn the book so she can see.  "No. It's 'The Devil All the Time.'"
The receptionist told me that she and her daughter are reading it and discussing it. 
"Any book that gets people talking especially if it opens up a dialogue between a mom and her child is great."  I tell her.
The woman behind me in line pipes up. "I just finished the first two!"

4. This morning I came into work and my co-worker tells me that she is reading 50 Shades of Grey.  I was surprised, okay shocked, because this is not the kind of book she would read.  Our other co-worker lent it to her and brought it to work in a brown paper bag like contraband. 

5. There are long Facebook threads about 50 Shades of Grey, debating the merits of the book and people defending themselves for reading it.   

I probably won't read 50 Shades of Grey and therefore, I really can't judge it personally.  The premise alone doesn't interest me and from what I've heard from others it's just not that well written.  But hoorah to all the readers enjoying it. 

What are your thoughts?  How did you discover the 50 Shades trend and are you reading it?  Why or why not?  Are you running into people left and right talking about it?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This made me laugh out loud. We discussed it in one of my classes last semester. One of my friends said that her MIL, who is a great prude, was trying to get her to read it. I had to laugh.

I have no intention of reading it, since erotica is SO not my thing, and Twilight-related anything is even less my thing. But hey. If it's getting people to read, I'll give it props for that while rolling my eyes at the same time. :P

Smash Attack Ash said...

I love this damn post! I am so not interested in reading this book. I cannot get behind an erotica that started off as a Bella and Edward story. *gag* That's icky poo. Plus, I read the "tampon" scene, and it only solidified my disinterest.

However, I do love it when a book spreads like wildfire, especially with people who make you do a double take. The written word can be pretty persuasive...

Kayla Beck said...

I love that so many people are reading this book, but I won't read it. Erotica and Twilight are not my cups of tea, and I don't really set much store by hype either.

I have to ask, have you seen Fifty Shades of Suck yet?

Julie@My5monkeys said...

I haven't read it nor I have any desire to read something that started off as fan fiction of edward and bella.
I am glad that others are reading it , but there are much better books than this out there. I dislike it being called MOMMY PORN :(

Midnyte Reader said...

@Ems - hysterical about your MIL, but I'm glad she enjoyed it!

@Smash-I didn't know there was a tampon scene...I don't think I want to know about it.

@Kayla - I just checked out FSofS. Pretty funny stuff.

@Julie-I haven't heard the term Mommy Porn...that's just kind of weird.

Unknown said...

HA! I love this post. And yes, I too have been seeing this book EVERYWHERE! I'm getting a little tired of it to be honest.

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

So I thought about reading these books and had pretty much decided not to. Yes, I liked Twilight, but I've had issues with books that echo Twilight because once around the block with Bella and crew was good for me, but more importantly I don't read erotica. I even have trouble with horror that's too torture porn (I love some of Richard Laymon's books (The Traveling Vampire Show, In The Dark) but had to stop reading him because he just had sooooo much sex in his books.

But then 50 Shades was freaking everywhere. And I was offended that people were calling in Mommy Porn and criticizing peeps for reading it. Then we started talking about it at book club.

AND THEN, I showed the Hubs the SNL skit on their Mother's Day jab at 50 Shades and explained to the Hubs what the books were about.

So, May is my birthday month (I prefer to celebrate the whole month) so he got me all three books. And I've read the first two. Yes, the writing is truly terrible most of the time, and I can definitely see where it was once a fan fic. But, it is smexy and no where near as dirty as I was expecting. Of course my only other foray into erotica was Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty books which, in my opinion, make 50 Shades of Grey seem pretty tame.

I love that someone brought it in a paper bag! I realize that it's not great literature, but at the end of the day the series is entertaining and there's definitely something to talk about!

bookgoonie said...

I heard the buzz, but it wasn't lighting my fire. Then the convos start about the content. *ears perked* but then some bloggers I trust said that the writing was bad & was meh. So I move on to the tons of good books on my shelf.

But book buzz is good.

Midnyte Reader said...

@Savvy - I don't blame you. But what really bothers me is when people tell me I "have" to read it.

@Kate - Yes Anne Rice's books did the same thing with an amazing twist and from what people said, with better writing.

@Bookgoonie - Yes, there are too many other books that I want to read and probably would not ever want to read 50 Shades.

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