What the Dickens? Erotic fiction is now 4,000% more popular than high quality literature as passion for 'mummy porn' sees off the classics

By Ruth Styles - Daily Mail - , 26 November 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey has sold more than 40 million copies since it was released in May 2011 and the vogue for erotic fiction is showing no sign of slowing down.

What's more, according to new research, sales of so-called 'mummy porn' are even outstripping those of work by the likes of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.
Along with Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, Sylvia Day’s Reflected in You is topping the erotic fiction charts and sold 100,000 copies in its first week.

E.L James' Fifty Shades of Grey (left) is outselling Hilary Mantel's award-winning novel, Bring Up The Bodies

And it isn't just the classics that are suffering from the rise of erotica.
According to data from Rakuten’s Play.com, the UK public is overlooking award-winning literature, such as the Man Booker Prize shortlist, in favour of E.L James and co.

Although the quality of the writing in erotic novels has been questioned, erotic fiction accounts for a whopping 14 per cent of all books sold on the Play.com, whereas Man Booker Prize authors account for a tiny 0.4 per cent.
Since October, the erotic fiction category has received 4,000 per cent more searches than Man Booker Prize shortlist.

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