Thank you, Mexican - couldn't have said it better (or even as well) myself.

Because, gah and holy cow, Scott (to use 2 of Ana from Fifty Shades' favourite expressions) - have you actually read any of the feted trilogy yourself? I mean, honestly?

Methinks not, since you are probably too much in thrall to your own preconceptions or the dictates of the market to be seen buying something which has widely been pronounced to be 'mommy porn'.

But seriously, have a read. It's not good, not good at all, Scott. Inane, simpering and truly uninspiring.

And you know what - I'm pretty sure that 90% of those who buy and read these books aren't under any illusions about their quality (or lack thereof)either. For you to assume that they are is quite patronising, really. It's not just the broadsheets who think Fifty Shades is rubbish, you know.

The books are selling cos there's SEX in them, and lots of it. Slightly nasty sex too - a young and slightly gormless sexual ingenue being systematically controlled and subjugated - not just sexually but in the rest of her life too - by a powerful but emotionally crippled older man.

I'm not making any moral judgement here - it's just that this scenario has been written about so much better and more erotically in other books, and makes for much better reading. Quality reading even, dare I say it.

If this were a 'top shelf' porn mag which was being bought in its millions, Scott, would you be equally as enthused about its merits and its ability to 'increase footfall' into 'proper bookshops' (your words, not mine)? Probably not. And neither would all the respectable mommies who are buying Fifty Shades, I am sure. (And yet to me, the top shelf mag is far more honest and straightforward in its intent and it never pretends to be quality).

All I can say is, thank God there are people to pour scorn on mindless drivel from time to time. Without them, we'd all be going to hell in a shopping cart!

By the way, you can get it for £3 in Asda - so have a read and get back to me. I don't think you'll be impressed either ;)

OLA is actually making a valid point here. Increased footfall is all well and good, but if you're going to make that argument you need to think about where people are actually buying these books. If it's primarily Amazon and in supermarkets, which I suspect it is, then the benefit to the likes of Waterstones (the good health of which is crucial to the ongoing survival of many small to mid-range publishers) becomes more fleeting rather than an ongoing boost.

While the High St retailers are undoubtedly going to see some benefit (however big or small), I do fear that it will be a temporary phenomenon in this case.

I just don't see this is a "Harry Potter" moment for our industry. Harry Potter was a GREAT thing for the books industry. The books were by and large hugely enjoyable, well-written, with fantastic plots that have fired the imaginations of millions of readers young and old. The kind of books that have without doubt converted people into "readers" and got them into books (and not only that, caught them when they were young).

Fifty Shades is so poorly written, the characterisation is embarrassing and the dialogue cringe-worthy in the extreme. However, there's no hiding the fact that it has become a phenomonon. It's "gone viral" as irritating people in marketing like to say.

Despite the current success, I don't see how thousands of mums chucking their £3 copy into their trollies in ASDA is particularly positive for the long-term health of our industry. It's turned a section of society onto erotica for a while, which is fine and dandy in itself, but these books will most probably be largely forgotten about in a few years time and the people consuming them right now will have gone back to their HEAT and HELLO magazines.

Also, I never said it wasn't selling well on the High St. Again, you're responding to a point I never actually made.