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Mar12

New York Times Article: 50 shades of grey

by mluther628 on March 12th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

New York Times

Discreetly Digital, Erotic Novel Sets American Women Abuzz

Richard Perry/The New York Times

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E L James, at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J.

By 
Published: March 9, 2012

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” an erotic novel by an obscure author that has been described as “Mommy porn” and “Twilight” for grown-ups, has electrified women across the country, who have spread the word like gospel on Facebook pages, at school functions and in spin classes. Or as the handwritten tag on a paperback copy in a Montclair, N.J., bookstore helpfully noted, “Yes, this is THE book everyone is talking about.”

Heidi Green

E L James reading from her book “Fifty Shades Freed.”

The problem has been finding it. The first book of a trilogy, it was published by a tiny independent press in Australia, and distribution in print has been limited and sluggish, leaving bookstores deprived of copies. The lion’s share of total sales (more than 250,000 copies for all three books) has come from ever-discreet e-book downloads, which have propelled “Fifty Shades of Grey” to No. 1 on the New York Times e-book fiction best-seller list for sales in the week ending March 3 and No. 3 position on Amazon’s best-seller list.

Now American publishers have just concluded a battle over the rights to re-release the book in the blockbuster fashion they think it deserves. This week, Vintage Books, part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, known for its highbrow literary credentials, won a bidding war for the rights to all three books, paying a seven-figure sum.

On Monday, the publisher will release new e-book editions of the trilogy. Weeks later will come a 750,000-copy print run of redesigned paperback editions.

“We’re making a statement that this is bigger than one genre,” said Anne Messitte, the publisher of Vintage Anchor, who discovered the book when a colleague at Random House slipped her a copy. “The people who are reading this are not only people who read romance. It’s gone much broader than that.”

“Fifty Shades of Grey” and the two other titles in the series were written by a British author named E L James, a former television executive who began the trilogy by posting fan fiction online. The books, which were released in the last year, center on the lives (and affection for whips, chains and handcuffs) of Christian Grey, a rich, handsome tycoon, and Anastasia Steele, an innocent college student, who enter into a dominant-submissive relationship. The narrative is built on the purple prose typical of pulp novels, with lines like, “My inner goddess is doing the dance of the seven veils.”

Publishing executives said the word-of-mouth excitement accompanying “Fifty Shades of Grey” was reminiscent of that accompanying novels like “The Da Vinci Code,” “The Kite Runner” and “Eat, Pray, Love.”

Except this book has been credited with something else: introducing women who usually read run-of-the-mill literary or commercial fiction to graphic, heavy-breathing erotica. And in the cities and suburbs of New York, Denver and Minneapolis, the women who have devoured the books say they are feeling the happy effects at home.

“It’s relighting a fire under a lot of marriages,” said Lyss Stern, the founder of DivaMoms.com and one of the early fans of the series. “I think it makes you feel sexy again, reading the books.”

One Long Island woman, who insisted on anonymity so that she would not embarrass her employer, said the book had gained an obsessive following among her friends, the first erotic novel they have ever discussed.

“Women just feel like it’s O.K. to read it,” she said. “It’s taboo for women to admit that they watch pornography, but for some reason it’s O.K. to admit that they’re reading this book.”

The trilogy has its detractors. Commentators have shredded the books for their explicit violence and antiquated treatment of women, made especially clear in the character of Anastasia, an awkward naif who consents to being stalked, slapped and whipped with a leather riding crop.

“What I found fascinating is that there are all these supermotivated, smart, educated women saying this was like the greatest thing they’ve ever read,” said Meg Lazarus, a 38-year-old former lawyer in Scarsdale, whose friends and acquaintances have been buzzing about the book. “I don’t get it. There’s a lot of violence, and this guy is abhorrent sometimes.”

“The books are just so long,” said Sarah Wendell, a blogger and the co-author of “Beyond Heaving Bosoms.” “They suffer from the same lack of content and pacing. They’re very dense, with a lot of detail. They just don’t go anywhere.”

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But executives at Vintage say they believe that sales of the series so far are just the tip of the iceberg.

Interest in “Fifty Shades of Grey” has been highest in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Florida, according to results from Insights for Search, an online tool that indexes the volume of Google search trends.

On Friday afternoon, it was out of stock in Barnes & Noble stores in Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Seattle, Boston and Kansas City, Mo., suggesting that once the paperbacks are distributed widely, print sales are poised to boom. (A more wallet-friendly price will help: when Vintage releases its paperback edition, the cover price will drop to $15.95 from $29.99.)

Conversation about the book online has fed many of the sales, said Patricia Bostelman, vice president for marketing at Barnes & Noble. “I think this shows very clearly what the blog network can do,” she said. “The word-of-mouth so thoroughly outpaced the availability.”

Ms. James’s agent, Valerie Hoskins of London, is fielding offers from Hollywood producers for the film rights and from foreign publishers for the rights to the book in other languages.

“I think it can only get bigger in terms of its success,” Ms. Hoskins said. “One of the things about this is that in the 21st century, women have the ability to read this kind of material without anybody knowing what they’re reading, because they can read them on their iPads and Kindles.”

Where print editions of “Fifty Shades” are available, many independent booksellers have placed them front and center in stores, an unusual place for erotica among copies of Abraham Verghese’s “Cutting for Stone” and Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit From the Goon Squad.”

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Mar03

Bound

by madamoiselle on March 3rd, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Posted In: My True Stories

She awoke to bright sunbeams filtering through the frosty windows of their cabin. The fire was out, she noted…but no, not quite. Glowing orange embers still warmed the one remaining chunk of log. They would rekindle the flames soon, she had no doubt.

Slipping from his side, from under the warm protective shelter of his arm, she quietly padded to her backpack.

From the side pocket she pulled a vividly colored silk scarf. Her thoughts drifted back to the small airport boutique in Paris where she had bought it so many years ago. In that wild, exciting summer of her 19th year, she had danced recklessly through the south of France with a tall, dark man from Algiers as her companion. They had shared some passionate moments together nestled in their blankets and jackets among the boulders at the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, as the turquoise waters crashed against the rocks, but she had not been willing to give herself completely to him, and when the 747 took her, alone, from France back to America, she had still been a virgin.

In the early morning light she gazed at the warm colors; her favorites. Fuschia, coral, red, many shades of blue and purple and green; the scarf was still as brilliantly hued as when she had bought it. The man softly snoring nearby had once sent her the Hendrix song “Bold as love”, and shared how it described him; she could see the truth in that, but it described her just as well. The jealousy, the fear, the life-giving waters, the love and joy and pain…a rainbow like him, like her…

He had been the first man to truly help her to feel lovely, to have confidence without shame in her sensual vivacity and intensely passionate nature.

He was stirring now, turning to look for her. His drowsy eyes found her, and he stood up smiling as she slowly, sinuously crossed the room to stand before him.

She gazed up into his deep brown eyes. Never had she felt so vulnerable, but he deserved to know that his persistent love had knit her to him. Slowly she lifted the scarf to his hands.

“No one has possesed me as fully as you have. No other man has roused my passion so deeply, and seen the fruits of it”, she said softly. “You own a secret part of me; it will never belong to anyone but you.”

His puzzled stare locked onto her eyes; she watched with an enigmatic smile as his confusion was replaced with warm understanding.

“Tie me…” she whispered. “I trust you… and I want you to remember for all your life that there is a part of me that is bound only to you.”

He took the scarf, and wound it loosely around his hands. She stood naked before him now, but her chin was held high…bold enough to return his gaze with her secret, Mona Lisa smile. His stare grew heated as it coursed slowly over her body, pausing to appreciate her rounded breasts, heaving lightly from her stimulated breathing, nipples firm and pressing pertly toward him, the slimness of her waist and the smooth swelling curve of her hips. Aroused by the touch of his eyes, she shivered in anticipation, waiting…

Dragging his eyes from her, he glanced around the room, considering…

“Babe, there’s not really anything to tie you to…” he murmured. She smiled mischievously, dimples deeply flirting at the corners of her lips.

“Just tie me to me, then…” she suggested impishly. Walking around her, he took her waiting wrists and looped the brightly colored scarf around them, tying securely. “OK?” he asked, moving back to face her.

She pulled lightly against the restraint on her arms, firm, soft, silken against her wrists. She was bound for his pleasure. If she asked, he would release her in an instant. But the thrill of being completely within his control sent fire coursing through her body, and moisture and heat pooling in her core.

His gaze traveled from her face downward, over her throat and collarbone to her breasts. With her hands tied behind her, her breasts seemed fuller, rounder, pressing forward as she stood up straight before him, and he watched her nipples harden more as she flamed under his warm perusal. He reached his palms under her breasts, and began to play with the mounds. She trembled, waiting for him to touch her aching nipples, but he simply smiled slowly as his hands traveled in leisurely circles around her breasts, carefully avoiding the taut nipples thrusting toward him. She moaned as her body began to sway, trying to push into his slowly moving hands, and he just laughed. “That’s right, baby…dance for me, nice and slow…”

Her body was undulating from side to side; her eyes closed as she moved, pressing towards him. His hands moved down her body, caressing her waist and the outward curve of her hips, moving behind to fondle her ass. He took a step closer as his hands moved back up her sides, to cup her breasts, and finally his thumbs slid up to softly press the tips of her nipples. With the lightest touch, he rubbed small circles. Her breathing became quicker, her eyes fluttering open as her intense gaze touched his body everywhere, stopping to stare hungrily at his engorged cock, hard and rosy hued as it thrust toward her.

Smiling, he lightly pinched her nipples, and she felt as if a sudden fire had engulfed her. Moaning, she strained toward him, pressing her aching breasts toward his warm hands, grinding her pelvis firmly against his arousal, wrapping one leg firmly around his calf. He grunted as she wriggled against his hard erection, and his hands dropped down to grab her ass, pulling her snugly against him. Opening his eyes again he saw a wickedly mischievous, dimpled smile lighting her face as she pushed her hips more firmly in to his arousal….felt the pressure and urgency building in his cock…

…and he straightened his arms, pushing her back. “Oh, no, vixen. You’re bound to me; you belong to me, you say? I’m calling the shots this time around. I’ll set the pace…but I promise you this, my love, we will both find a joy here that we’ll remember for all time.”

Swinging his strong arms under her knees and around her body, he lifted her easily…”Boy, am I glad you work out so faithfully”, she whispered, giggling lightly, resting her cheek snugly and trustingly against his chest…and he carried her to the plush rug before the fireplace. Gently, he set her down on her knees, then knelt with her, facing her. He gazed at her face; she was smiling warmly, her eyes filled with emotions so rich he could hardly fathom their depth…love, he saw there, and strong joy, and breathtaking passion. He slid his arms from her shoulders down the curves of her arms, and felt the knot in the scarf restraining her wrists behind her back.

“Still comfortable?” he murmured. She smiled and nodded, her brown eyes blazing; her gaze lowered slowly to his penis, still engorged, with a tiny pearlescent drop at the tip. “Mmmm…” she sighed longingly, as her tongue lightly licked her upper lip…

“Nope, it’s my turn. Spread out for me…spread your knees, my lady…”

She blushed at the command; paused a few moments, then timidly wriggled so her knees were a few inches apart. He just laughed softly.

“Spread them wide, woman…do you need me to do it for you?” His warm gaze assured her of his affection. Cringing at her vulnerability, blushing and smiling furiously, she wriggled again on her knees, spreading herself open for him.

“That’s my girl”, he murmured, enclosing her in a warm embrace…then, resting his hands on her shoulders, he bent to press warm kisses on her neck, her collarbone, and finally the first high swells of her breasts. Her nipples were hard, painfully so, aching for his strong caress, but again he toyed with her, kissing, nibbling, sucking in warm, wet circles all around her breasts, licking at her areolas, moving from one to the other, until at last, she was trembling with passion…

“Suck them…”, she whispered.

His hands were moving stealthily down from her shoulders, rubbing lightly along her back, coming to rest at the swell of her hips below her waist, fondling her round ass. He glanced up playfully.

“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you, sweetheart…”

“Suck them, suck my nipples, please…please, now…” she gasped harshly. The yearning in her eyes and the pressure she began to exert on the restraining scarf binding her wrists bore out her urgency. He latched firmly on to her right nipple, sucking it deeply into his mouth, suckling hard on her. His left hand was grasping firmly on the left cheek of her ass, his fingers deeply caressing the tempting crevice between; his right hand moved around to knead her left breast, pinching the taut nipple, rolling it between his fingers, as his hot mouth sucked, nibbled, devoured her…

Overwhelmed at the sensation, she cried out lustily; trembling and gasping, her hips bucking toward his chest, the juices flowing from her body as her orgasm overtook her. Concerned she might fall over, as energetic as she had become, he held her hard against him, feeling his own excitement throbbing in his cock as she squirmed and pressed against him.

His eyes locked with hers. Despite her bondage, the “I-want” fire was burning in her gaze, demanding. “Inside me, love …”, she cajoled huskily…”don’t you want to be inside me? I need you now…need you to fill me…come into me, take me now…”

“You’re bound to me… yes, and I will call the shots this time, my lady. And…I will satisfy you more fully than any man ever has.”

He turned her body around and laid her flat on the rug, on her stomach. The vibrant scarf at her wrists drifted against the small of her back, her round ass cheeks curving upward beneath it, and he could sense her vulnerability as she straightened her legs out, closing them together again.

“Spread them, woman,” he warned, with a light slap on her buttocks. She glanced back at him with a disgruntled look on her face for just a moment, but at his lopsided smile she spread her legs wide and lifted her hips slightly, raising her ass toward him and giving him a view of her glistening labia. “Too cute…”, he muttered as he moved close over her. She shuddered in anticipation as she felt his warm breath tickling her ass; he gave her rump a playful nip and she yipped lightly, wiggling from side to side.

Her man grasped her hips at the waist, and lay down behind her, pressing his face to her warm, wet pussy. “Oh, yes, babe…” he murmured, and pressed soft kisses against the swollen lips of her vulva. She began to squirm gently in a circular motion, and he heard with some amusement her soft, frustrated grunts as she tried to raise her clit closer to his teasing mouth.

“Keep still for now”, he ordered gruffly, pulling away from her heated mound, with another spank on her round ass. When she complied, he again nuzzled his face into her pussy, reaching his tongue out to taste her juices. “Mmmm…you taste so good…” he muttered, probing his firm tongue more deeply into her slit. With one hand kneading her rounded ass and the valley there, his other began to play in her wetness; his thumb slowly slid in and out of her, caressing the moist boundaries there, as his fingers found and gently circled the hard nub of her clit. She was tensing up, trying not to squirm, but he could feel the intense pressure building within her again, and she began to gasp and moan. His tongue came to replace the fingers playing at her clit; licking and nibbling, finally latching on and sucking her hardened clit, as he slid two, then three fingers deeply within her. She screamed his name, and began bucking wildly toward his face, as if she expected him to take her entire pussy within his mouth, and as he sucked deeply on her clit and thrust his fingers hard within her, he could taste the flood of her slippery juices as she dissolved in orgasm again.

He had been rubbing his hips, his rock hard cock, against the rug as he had worked his lady into a frenzy; now as she cried out in ecstasy, his loins responded powerfully, and he knew he had to take her.

“Lift up your hips, babe…I’m coming inside you now…” he growled. His cock was as hard and thick with arousal as it had ever been before, and several drops had already welled out of the red, swollen head. “Look at it…” he murmured, as he positioned himself at her slick pussy.

She laughed breathlessly, turning her face back to smile up at him. “I would if I could…oh, come…come on please, fill me now!”

As slowly as he could, he pressed deeply within her. As he slid into her, her ass wriggled upward toward him, until his balls were pushed snugly against her vulva.

“Aaah…you’re so big, so strong and hot…”, she groaned. He could feel her squeezing, then releasing, rhythmically against his cock..and he could wait no more. He pulled back, almost out of her warm sheath, and then thrust back in, hard, hot for her. His powerful strokes gained a strong rhythm, and she responded the best she could…he could see that having her arms tied behind was making it hard for her to keep her balance. Grinning, he wrapped his arms below her breasts and held her, supporting her body as he pulled her tight against his chest, pounding her vigorously from behind. She was gasping again, already so orgasmically sensitive, and so near to that threshhold again, and he was close to exploding within her heated body. He grasped her breasts and squeezed, grunting in her ear “coming now, baby…coming…aaahhh…” She cried out as well, shaking uncontrollably, at the moment he exploded deeply inside her – his heat, his harsh breathing against her back, his hard, thick cock now spurting, jetting into her womb, his deep guttural groans, all bringing her to the highest peak of ecstasy. Flashing before her eyes, in myriads of colors, was the rainbow, now in sparkling, flowing array, that was their bold love for each other.

He leaned his head against her shoulder; his breathing heavy and rapid, but slowly easing. Slipping out of her, he turned her to face him. As he held her close, his strong arms wrapped sweetly and snugly around her body, he eased them both down onto the rug, then lay beside her. She gazed at his precious face, his eyes closed, a smile softening his lips, sweat and heat warming his cheeks.

“Hey…” she whispered. His eyes opened halfway; his lips twitched.

“Hmm…?”

“Umm; my arms are getting really numb. Would you mind untying…?”

His eyes flew open now. “Oh, sweetheart – of course…” He unbound his lady, pulling the scarf away and setting it aside on the rug with a smile, as she brought her hands around and began rubbing her wrists.

“Better?”, he asked, as he drowsily enfolded her in his arms again.

“Better than I could have imagined”, she murmured, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling close to his body.

They drifted off to sleep, limbs entwined comfortably, bound to one another. His arms would always feel like home to her.

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Mar02

Surprised

by James on March 2nd, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

I’m surprised by the large fan base for this trilogy because it has so many stereotypical tropes we’ve seen time and again in erotic and romance over the past 30 years. Nothing new. There seems to be an equal amount of lovers and haters of these books, and the whole drama surrounding how they were written and how they were published. But James has sold a a massive amount regardless of the lacking editing issues and the ridiculousness of Christian and Ana. I can see more books like this being published in the next coming years and readers eating them up.

50 Shades speaks to certain female readers, much like the bodice rippers from the 70′s and 80′s and the whole forced seduction or rape issue and the mentally unhealthy hero and they way the horrible way he treats the heroine. It’s like a guilty pleasure for some readers who enjoy that fantasy and I think that’s what James has done here with 50 Shades.

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Mar02

Fifty Shades Of Grey Review

by mluther628 on March 2nd, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Fifty Shades of Grey is an erotic novel self-published by first-time British author E.L. James in 2011 which has already spawned two sequels and, maybe, a movie deal. I just read it and have, naturally, almost fifty things to say.  Adults, read on:

 1. The blurb:

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating.  Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind – until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him.  Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her too – but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

2. The cover is perfect for the novel. Why are we stuck with such literal cover art for contemporary erotic romance?

3. As reported in Publishers Weekly, Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction. I have seen the first three Twilight films, and read part of the second Twilight book (it was a DNF), and, despite looking for it, detected almost no resemblance. If I hadn’t seen a link to the PW article, I would never in a million years have guessed the provenance of this book.

4. That said, for some readers the issue isn’t how closely Fifty Shades hews to Twilight, but the author’s use of the Twilight fan fiction community. Amazon.com reader Jennifer offers a good summary of the argument in her comment on Amazon.com:

In what was her most unethical act, EL James (aka Snowqueens Icedragon) also borrowed Twilight’s large fanbase on the condition that she would not profit from her fanfiction. She didn’t have to run marketing campaigns like Stephenie Meyer and other legitimate authors must do. She knew that people would buy her book due to her success in the fanfiction world, a celebrity that she attained under the deceitful pretense that she was simply honoring Meyer’s work and nothing more.

I would need to know more about timing and motivation to comment on this. To hatch the whole plot from the start would be pretty crafty.

5. The price for, $9.99 for the ebook (see Amazon), from a debut author, self-published, is outrageous.I read Fifty Shades thanks to the generous Kindle lending of a friend.

6. Having read romances for the last five years, I’ve noticed BDSM romance, and BDSM elements, becoming more mainstream within the genre. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it’s obvious that someday a BDSM erotic romance would break out and become a phenomenon the way Fifty Shades has.

7. For evidence of the phenomenon, see Pornography for Mommies, an article about Fifty Shades in the Huffington Post. Or don’t, if you don’t want to be annoyed by the condescension (but it’s self-condescension, so maybe that’s ok? Or… maybe that’s the oldest and most hypocritical trick in the book? You decide!) in comments such as:

Also, I have been so busy reading “real” books that, no, I have not read anything dumb and erotic like this since college. And I think that’s true for many of my women friends. We read the latest historical fiction bestseller­s (like The Paris Wife, or The Help, which are definitely not bodice-rip­pers) and then we sip wine and meet for book club. So that’s why it is fun (and funny) to rediscover this stuff in our 40′s. Not sure why this one was the break-out erotica to “trip” on, as you say, but it has certainly crossed over.

8. People get mad at you if you like this book:  You don’t know good writing! You are part of the horde who encourage the publication of poorly edited books! You don’t care that the author ripped off her Twilight fanficdom and/or Stephanie Meyer! You are promoting work that encourages the stereotype that folks who are into BDSM are “damaged”!

9. And they get mad if you don’t: You’re an elitist snob! You don’t get it! You are some crazy Twihard who can’t bear the thought of Edward with a whip! You’re sexually repressed! You are trying to tell women which sexual fantasies are ok and which aren’t!

10. Boy, is this book popular. Check the number of reviewers on Amazon (4.5 stars, 180 ratings, 190 likes) or Goodreads (4210 ratings, avg rating of 4.41 out of 5). Just compare that to the latest book by New York Times bestselling romance writer Nora Roberts, The Next Always (published around the same time, also priced at $9.99):  Amazon (3.5 stars, 197 reviews, 1014 likes… the last number showing Roberts’ strong Facebook presence, something James can’t now, or perhaps ever, compete with), Goodreads (3687 ratings, 3.88 average rating).

11. But wait! Fifty Shades is not, technically, a romance novel (no happily ever after, although there is one at the end of the series). It’s not published by a romance publisher. The cover is certainly not romancey. And, I could be wrong, but I don’t think it was primarily romance readers that first discovered this book: it was members of the author’s fan fiction community. Indeed, my “friends” on Goodreads give it a much lower average review.

12. If you want more Fifty Shades, you can read the next two books in the series, Fifty Shades Darker (supposed to be pretty good) or Fifty Shades Freed (supposed to suck).

13. If you need even more, people are saying you should try Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, or The Realm of You by Tara Buckley.

14. The author repeats certain phrases and adjectives over and over. For example, Christian’s “long” fingers, the “unbelievably sexy way” his pants hang off his hips, how “beautiful” he is, Ana’s “flawless skin”, even the word “fuck” (Ana’s constant “Holy fuck!s”, Christian’s frequent, and decreasingly erotic, threats to “fuck” her “hard”). Here’s a tip: people notice the use of unusual words like “fractionally”. They really notice them after five or ten times.

15. Someone needs to take this author’s thesaurus and hide it someplace safe.

“Anticipation hangs heavy and portentous over my head…”

“‘So I brought you here,” he said phlegmatically.

“The ceremony takes another hour to conclude. It’s interminable.”

“Another mercurial mood swing; it’s so hard to keep up.”

“I’m lost in a quagmire of sensation.”

“I revel in his possession, his lust slaking mine.”

“Trepidation lances through me.”

“He’s got right under my skin, literally.”

Edited to add:[I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS ONE!] “I turn into my pillow and the sluice gates open.”

These words… I do not think they mean what the author thinks they mean.

16. The author had some rather– erm — creative ways of surmounting the inherent narrative difficulties of first person: Anastasia has a subconscious that’s not very sub:

“My subconscious is behind the sofa again, head hidden under her hands.”;

“I look to my subconscious. She’s whistling with her hands behind her back and looking anywhere but at me.”;

“My subconscious is nervous, anxiously biting her nails.”;

“My subconscious has her Edvard Munch face on again.”

17. She also has an “inner goddess”:

“My inner goddess is jumping up and down, clapping her hands like a five year old.”

“My inner goddess stops jumping and smiles serenely.”

“My inner goddess shakes her head at me.”

“My inner goddess pops her head above the parapet.”

18. 80 references to Ana’s subconscious. 59 to her inner goddess. I’d say there are four main characters in this book.

19. There’s a lot in Fifty Shades that reminded me of romance. In particular, the hero has some classic alpha traits, like the characters in Presents: controlling, possessive, jealous, wealthy, sophisticated, more experienced, sexually and otherwise. Like J.D. Robb’s Roarke, Christian insists on doing things for Anastasia: buying her an Audi, a Blackberry, a Macbook.

20. The references to brand names (see #13), be it food and drink, clothing, cars, furniture… is very unlike the typical romance novel. These things will date the novel but for now, they give it a more contemporary feel than most contemporary romances I have read.

21. Christian is not just alpha, he’s a tortured alpha. His claim that he cannot “make love”, but only “fuck…hard” echoes Zadist from J. R. Ward’s Lover Awakened.  The tortured alpha whose childhood abuses prevent him from having a normal romantic relationship is such a common theme in romance, especially in paranormal romance, that I’m surprised more PNR romance readers aren’t flocking to this book.

22. In contrast to a lot of alpha heroes in romance, especially of the Presents variety, Christian is often surprised, saddened, and amused by Ana. He is sometimes scared, vulnerable, needy. And he can be genuinely funny. Reading Fifty Shades made me realize how limited an emotional repertoire many romance heroes are allowed to have.

23. One of the things I liked about Anastasia was her tendency to say what she was feeling, both in the moment, and via email. She also teases Christian, shocks him, baits him (she compares it to “shooting fish in a barrel”), ignores him, forgets about him. I don’t think it’s insignificant that he asks her to sign a BDSM contract near the beginning of the book, and at the end, she still hasn’t signed it. My surprise at her actions and reactions made me aware that I had some different expectations for this kind of story. In short, these things made the book feel different to me than many contemporary romances I have read.

24. Despite #23, I don’t think Ana’s a model of the strong, autonomous heroine (too much of her behavior comes off as the bratty backtalker to daddy).

25. This book contains the line, “it’s the sub that has all the power.” I’ve seen that before and I don’t get it. It seems to contradict the common assertion that the Dom/sub relationship is built on mutual respect and equality.

26. I’ve read a few other erotic romances with BDSM, including books in which one party was introduced to the lifestyle/orientation. In other books, the narrative is one in which the protagonist “uncovers” the hidden D or s. The transition is pretty immediate. I thought this narrative was different — Ana enjoys the fantasy, to some extent, but she’s not a sub — and pretty interesting in its way.

27. Ana is underdeveloped as a character. There’s a lot of telling the reader how strong she is, how smart. I can’t say there was much showing. She likes to read British literature and drink tea. Not a lot to go on.

28. Christian’s status as a Dominant was not portrayed consistently, regardless of whether you read him as “Dom because he’s built that way” or “Dom because he was damaged as a child”. I think they had more vanilla sex than BDSM. And the complete control threatened by the Contract never materializes.

29. Fifty Shades felt different, or fresher in some ways, than a lot of contemporary erotic romance. A scene at a college graduation. The heroine works in a hardware store. An actual job interview. Etc.

30. I’ve never read an erotic romance in which a tampon is mentioned, let alone removed by the hero. Also, an ob/gyn exam.

31. I haven’t mentioned secondary characters. They exist. And that’s about all I can say about them.

32. The pace was very, very slow. I found Fifty Shades a slog after 50%.

33. I think a professional edit could have made a big difference.

34. Ana’s personality was often conveyed through her attitude towards food. If she was nervous, she wouldn’t eat. If she was aroused, she couldn’t eat. If she was tired, she wouldn’t eat. If she was feeling adventurous, she tried oysters… This was an attempt by the author to characterize the heroine, but Ana’s relationship with food is very concerning.

35. On the other hand, I do think college graduation is the perfect time for an English major to get wrapped up in an intense relationship. I’m not kidding.

36. Ana is a 21 year old in 2011. She often forgets to turn on or bring her phone. She’s not on Facebook. Really? Of course there are people like that, but those choices felt more like author’s decisions than coming from her character.

37. I had no problems with Ana’s age. Many people get married right after college graduation, never mind having a serious relationship. I’m puzzled by some readers’ complaints along these lines. Christian is less than ten years older than Ana. Am I missing something?

38. The emails between Christian and Ana were very effective and well done. They moved the relationship along and showed that the medium and the message, if not identical, intersect in interesting ways.

39. On the other hand, it is unusual for college students to use email in personal relationships. Students see email as formal communication, with parents and professors. They text in personal relationships. Perhaps the author was trying to make a point about Ana’s attitude towards Christian? Or not?

40. Thanks to Kindle, I can share some popular highlights, like “Never trust a man who can dance.”

41. The hero likes classical music, opera, and also Kings of Leon. Kindle readers highlighted each song named.

42. The most popular highlight is “‘Flower Duet’, by Delibes, from the opera Lakme“.

43. The most popular non-song highlight is a quote from Dale Carnegie: “A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”

44. That reminds me … in one way Fifty Shades is very much like a lot of contemporary romance, especially Harlequin Presents: love of wealth. There’s a lot of vague protesting, but the reader is treated often to Ana’s joy in the perks of dating a wealthy man: private dining rooms, penthouse suites, upgrades to first class, etc.

45. I enjoyed this book, and I totally understand why so many readers refer to it as “crack” (bad but irresistible).

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