<P> Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best - seller lists around the world, including those of the United Kingdom and the United States . The series had sold over 125 million copies worldwide by June 2015 and has been translated into 52 languages, and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest - selling paperback of all time . </P> <P> It has received mixed to negative reviews, with most critics noting 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 ." Maureen Dowd described the book in The New York Times as being written "like a Bronte devoid of talent," and said it was "dull and poorly written ." Jesse Kornbluth of The Huffington Post said: "As a reading experience, Fifty Shades...is a sad joke, puny of plot". </P> <P> Princeton professor April Alliston wrote, "Though no literary masterpiece, Fifty Shades is more than parasitic fan fiction based on the recent Twilight vampire series ." Entertainment Weekly writer Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the book a "B +" rating and praised it for being "in a class by itself ." British author Jenny Colgan in The Guardian wrote "It is jolly, eminently readable and as sweet and safe as BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) erotica can be without contravening the trade descriptions act" and also praised the book for being "more enjoyable" than other "literary erotic books". The Daily Telegraph noted that the book was "the definition of a page - turner", noting that the book was both "troubling and intriguing". A reviewer for the Ledger - Enquirer described the book as guilty fun and escapism, and that it "also touches on one aspect of female existence (female submission). And acknowledging that fact--maybe even appreciating it--shouldn't be a cause for guilt ." The New Zealand Herald stated that the book "will win no prizes for its prose" and that "there are some exceedingly awful descriptions," although it was also an easy read; "(If you only) can suspend your disbelief and your desire to--if you'll pardon the expression--slap the heroine for having so little self respect, you might enjoy it ." The Columbus Dispatch stated that, "Despite the clunky prose, James does cause one to turn the page ." Metro News Canada wrote that "suffering through 500 pages of this heroine's inner dialogue was torturous, and not in the intended, sexy kind of way". Jessica Reaves, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote that the "book's source material isn't great literature", noting that the novel is "sprinkled liberally and repeatedly with asinine phrases", and described it as "depressing". </P> <P> 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 . 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 . Earlier, in April 2012, when E.L. James was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World", Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire criticised her inclusion due to the trilogy's fan fiction beginnings . </P>

When did fifty shades of grey come out