by Maria Geraci

I’m not going to get into the Fifty Shades of Grey debate. You either like the book. Or you don’t.

What I want to talk about is how this book got so darn popular (Okay, so it’s a different sort of Fifty Shades debate.) And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you must be living under a rock because almost everyone I know has either read or is currently reading this book. Even my dog is reading this book. (That’s a joke, but honestly, any minute now I expect Truffles Geraci to come trotting out to the living room with a copy clutched in her paws).

I first heard about this book on a well known writer’s blog. A writer I happen to adore and think very highly of. She was confused by how many of her friends (none of whom regularly read romance or erotica) were reading this book, talking about this book and actually recommending this book to others.

Naturally, being the curious writer that I am, I had to read the book. And yes, I did read all 3 books because the books’ author, EL James cleverly broke her story up into 3 smaller books so that in order to read the complete story, you’d have to buy all 3.

After reading the books, I have to confess to being confused. Did I love the books? No. Did I hate them? The answer to that is also no. There were parts I liked, parts I skimmed, and parts, well, that made me blush. But overall, it wasn’t my cup of tea.So is my taste so out of tune with the rest of America? How did these books become what seems like, an overnight cultural phenomena?

Is it because the original story (titled, Master of the Universe) was Twilight fan fiction? Is it because Good Morning America labeled it “mommy porn” sending the housewives of America into a twitter? Heck, the book has been mentioned on everything from NPR to Dancing with the Stars. It’s… well, like I said it’s a phenomena. One that has me scratching my head, because I’d love to know how this thing went uber viral.

Maybe Malcom Gladwell can shed some light on it.