50 Shades Of Grey Book Release Date

[Divina Milliken]

FiftyShades of Grey is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James.[1] It became the first installment 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 contains explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism).

"The Fifty Shades" series belongs to the genre of dark romance.[2] This genre typically involves intricate and dramatic plots, delving into complex and profound emotional relationships, along with possibly exploring unconventional or thought-provoking themes. The "Fifty Shades" series is categorized as dark romance literature due to its romantic elements in the plot and the complexity of interpersonal relationships.

Originally self-published as an ebook and print-on-demand in June 2011, the publishing rights to Fifty Shades of Grey were acquired by Vintage Books in March 2012, topping best-seller lists around the world. It has been translated into 52 languages and set a record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time in the United Kingdom. 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,[3] and was also panned upon release, though it was a box office success.

21-year-old Anastasia "Ana" Steele is an English literature major at the Washington State University's branch campus in Vancouver, Washington. Her best friend, Katherine "Kate" Kavanagh, writes for the college newspaper. Due to an illness, Kate cannot interview Christian Grey, a wealthy Seattle entrepreneur. Taking Kate's place, Ana finds the 27-year-old Christian both attractive and intimidating. She stumbles through the interview and believes it went poorly. Ana, not expecting to meet Christian again, is surprised when he appears at the hardware store where she works and purchases various items. When Ana mentions that Kate would like a photo for her article, Christian offers to arrange a photo session.

The next day Ana, along with Kate and their photographer friend, Jos Rodriguez, arrive at Christian's hotel for the photo shoot. Later, Christian asks Ana out for coffee. When he asks if she is dating someone, Ana replies that she is single. After claiming he is not romantic, Christian abruptly ends the date, leaving Ana to believe she is not attractive enough for him. Later, Christian sends Ana a first edition copy of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. That night, Ana goes out with her friends and ends up drunk dialing Christian, who says he is coming to pick her up. When Ana goes outside for some fresh air, Jos attempts to kiss her but is stopped by Christian's arrival. Ana leaves with Christian, but not before she discovers that Kate has been flirting with Christian's brother, Elliot. Ana awakens to find herself in Christian's hotel room. He assures her nothing happened but scolds her for her careless behavior. Christian wants to have a sexual relationship with Ana, but she must first fill out some paperwork. He later goes back on this statement to make out with her in the elevator.

Christian flies Ana to Seattle in his helicopter. At his penthouse, Christian makes Ana sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) regarding their time together. He also mentions other paperwork, but first takes her to his playroom filled with BDSM objects and gear. Christian informs her that the second contract will be about dominance and submission, and there will be no romantic relationship, only a sexual one. The contract even forbids Ana from touching Christian or making eye contact with him. At this point, Christian realises that Ana is a virgin. Not wanting her first sexual experience to be a BDSM experience, he has conventional sex with her and sleeps in her bed. The following morning, Christian's adoptive mother Grace arrives and is surprised to meet Ana, having never seen her son with a woman. Christian lost his virginity at age 15 to one of his mother's friends, Elena Lincoln, and his previous BDSM relationships failed due to incompatibility. In his first BDSM relationship, he was the submissive. Christian and Ana plan to meet again, and he takes Ana home, where she discovers several job offers.

Over the next few days, Ana receives many packages from Christian. This includes a laptop to replace her broken one and research the BDSM lifestyle in consideration of the contract, which they discuss. Ana becomes overwhelmed by the potential BDSM arrangement and having a non-romantic sexual relationship. Ana leaves and does not see Christian again until her college graduation, where he is the keynote speaker. During this time, Ana agrees to sign the contract. She and Christian meet to discuss it and go over Ana's hard and soft limits. Christian spanks Ana for the first time, and the experience leaves her both enticed and slightly confused. This confusion is exacerbated by Christian's lavish gifts, and the fact that he brings her to meet his family. The two continue with the arrangement without Ana having yet signed the contract. After landing a job with Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP), Ana further bristles under the NDA's restrictions and her complex relationship with Christian. The tension between Ana and Christian comes to a head after Ana asks Christian to punish her in order to show her how extreme a BDSM relationship could be. Christian complies, beating her with a belt. Realizing they are incompatible, a devastated Ana breaks up with Christian and returns to the apartment she shares with Kate.

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.[6][7] 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.[8][9] The book has also reportedly been popular among teenage girls and college women.[9][10][11] 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.[12] 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.[13][14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world, including those of the United Kingdom and the United States.[17][18] The series had sold over 125 million copies worldwide by June 2015,[19] while by October 2017 it had sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.[20] The series has been translated into 52 languages,[21] and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.[22]

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."[23] Maureen Dowd described the book in The New York Times as being written "like a Bront devoid of talent", and said it was "dull and poorly written."[24] Jesse Kornbluth of The Huffington Post said: "As a reading experience, Fifty Shades ... is a sad joke, puny of plot".[25]

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.[35][36] 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.[37] Earlier, in April 2012, when E. L. James was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World",[38] Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire criticised her inclusion due to the trilogy's fan fiction beginnings.[39]

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.[40][41]

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.[42]

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