Fifty
Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey
4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis:
In Fifty
Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey, 50 writers—from romance and erotica
authors, to real-world BDSM practitioners, to adult entertainment industry
professionals—continue the conversation regarding the impact of the success of
the Fifty Shades of Grey series from E.L. James.
I have
not read the Fifty Shades of Grey, and I doubt I will. I have been listening to
the conversations regarding “mommy porn” and “pull to publish.” When I looked
at the list of contributors, I saw quite a few names I recognized and thought
it might be interesting to see what they had to say about Fifty Shades of Grey.
What would this group of writers have to say? Was it worth an entire book
dedicated to talking more about this series and what it spawned?
The essays in Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of
Grey offer insight into the popularity of the series by E.L. James and also
talks about the issues of sexuality that have bubbled to the surface as a
result. The best
essays were those written by those writers having first-hand knowledge of the
BDSM lifestyle. I also found the essays discussing what this series exposed
regarding our acceptance of sexuality interesting.
Most of the essays had some content of interest,
and my favorite was from Susan Wright, titled Fifty Shades of Sexual Freedom. She struck a chord with me regarding sexual
repression.
She starts out by saying “There is a way to get the
amazing sex you want, and it actually involves talking about it.” and wraps up
with this. “Anything
that gets people talking about sex-- not just sensationalizing it or making fun
of it - is a good thing for Americans.”
The essays are short, quick reads and perfect for
reading a few at a time. This is not a book you pick up and read from start to
finish, at least I didn’t. I could easily see this as a textbook in a sexuality
or writing course.
There was a nice selection of topics and opinions,
although none of the contributors had anything controversial to say. And there
was humor too.
So overall, if you find the topics surrounding the
Fifty Shades of Grey popularity interesting (BDSM, erotic romance, sexuality,
fanfiction) and would like to read some
well-reasoned, well-written essays on the matter, this book is a great
start. It held my interest through all
fifty essays.