The Secret Life of E.L. James

by Marc Shapiro

Discover the secrets behind the Red Room of Pain

The intricacies of making love in the backseat of an expensive sports car

The rough and tumble process of editing Fifty Shades of Grey Find out where the name E.L. James really comes from

And finally the step by step process by which this middle-aged British mother of two came up with the international best-selling erotic romance series that has sold more copies than Harry Potter

NY Times best-selling biographer Marc Shapiro uncovers the inspiration and secrets behind this writing sensation, explaining how she did it with exclusive interviews with her editors and early fans. Marc Shapiro is the NY Times best-selling author of J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter, Justin Bieber: The Fever! and many other best-selling celebrity biographies. He has been a free-lance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television, and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

174 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2012

About the author

Marc Shapiro is the author of the New York Times bestselling biography, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, and more than a dozen other celebrity biographies. He has been a freelance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television, and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marcsh...

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Added 12/29/12:

So, this is on auto-approve on Netgalley. What the hell, I got a copy. I'm gonna read this. And if any of it is fiction, I'll be sure to let you know.


"The intricacies of making love in the backseat of an expensive sports car" -> Husband took her to the Audi dealership so she could check out the car and make sure sex was possible. Though perhaps not if you're middle-aged.

"The rough and tumble process of editing Fifty Shades of Grey" -> find 'Edward Cullen', replace with 'Christian Grey'. Take out a few ellipses, add a couple of commas. Don't fix geographical errors, don't check Google maps.

"And finally the step by step process by which this middle-aged British mother of two came up with the international best-selling erotic romance" -> read the Twilight Saga, wrote a kinky fanfic with free beta services, free information provided by fans, free promotion via the fandom

I wonder if any of the above is in this book. This information is well documented on various wank sites as well as the fandom collective.

I almost labeled this non-fiction, but considering, according to the blurb, that the author got his information from EL James' editors, publishers and her early fans, this is fiction at best, probably much like the early fapping over this on GMA, Today etc.

Also, WTF? There's nothing much secret about her life. She is a middle-aged, married mother of two who wrote a popular Twilight fanfiction that many fapped over, sold out by editing the character names so she could publish that fanfiction and made big bucks off it despite her proven disdain for the fandom, while her fangirls are still fapping over her and her shitty books.

Not a secret, is it?

ETA:

$15.99 for the paperback on Amazon? Am I being punk'd?

[Stefani Robinson]

Here, I can save you the money:

She watched Twilight, she wrote a fanfiction, she bastardized her fan fiction to make money. The End.

See, now you don't have to pay to buy it! You're welcome.

[Alicia (is beyond tired of your *ish)]

The Secret Life of E.L. James, eh?

What's the secret?

That she's actually fully literate? Because her writing would suggest otherwise.

That she didn't just find out about sex? Okay, well, she's a mother so obviously she didn't, and it's not secret. But, again, going by her writing one has to wonder.

Okay, how about she did more than read other people's fan fiction and watch movies as "research" about BDSM? Well, I think we all know the answer to that.

Does she have a shred of integrity?

Any ethics to speak of?

Or morals, like, at all?

Does she even know where the Pacific Northwest is?

Does she care about any human being other than herself?

Maybe cares that she insulted the people who helped her get where she is?

Does she know what domestic abuse is?

If she does, is she okay with it?

Is she seriously so heinous she truly feels like she was forced into, and wasted time, writing several thousand God-awful words for charity? CHILDREN'S CHARITY.

Or maybe the secret is the extent to which she stole from those other fan fictions and movies, outside of the characters, plot, and scenes with words changed she took directly from Twilight?

Maybe it's how much work went into all that stealing, and then the simply changing slight details and claiming it's original work? I'm sure that was so difficult for her.

But I think the number one secret we would all love the answer to is: What, exactly, were the terms of the deal with Satan that resulted in the inexplicable popularity and improbable financial success of such a poorly written, porn without plot Twilight fan fiction?


If any of the above questions were adequately addressed, honestly, I'd maybe consider reading this as it's on NetGalley. But from what I've seen it's just another sycophantic cash-grab that has the audacity to compare ELJ to real authors, with talent, who write original fiction, and dismiss all criticisms against this woman claiming that we would all do what ELJ did.

Sorry, Mr. Shapiro, if you've discovered you have a similar lack of ethics and integrity you'll have to deal with that on your own. Don't speak for the rest of us.

If you're looking for actual truth, read through some of these links.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Initial reaction: Well, suffice to say that I won't be reading any further of Marc Shapiro's so-called biographies, because if this constitutes a "biography" with the obviously author glorified, skewed perspective, heavily biased, and sloppily written mess that this book was - I certainly beg to differ.

This is going to be a long review. Fair warning ahead of time.

Full review:

I've read my fair share of autobiographies and biographies of various media personalities. Some of them are figures I highly respect, some are about people I'd never heard of but was subsequently introduced after reading the account of their life. Then I've read biographies of people I couldn't care two cents about for various reasons, but after reading their biographies - I at least gained a bit of perspective as to what their life was like, with a fair share of ups and downs, as well as insights as to what made them become the individuals they turned out to be. That, ultimately, was something I could respect.

Having said that, when I'm reading a biography, I expect an author writing one to have a fair balance of portrayal of their subject's life, accomplishments, challenges, and the like. There has to be a degree of intimacy that allows me to get to know the person in question. I've even read a few unauthorized biographies that managed to do that well. It boils down to knowing your subjects, using your sources and making sure they're accurate, and providing a balance of fair grounds to address those.

I stress the importance of accuracy because there was a biography I read once on basketball great Michael Jordan - widely circulated in fact - that started off with the sentence - paraphrased: "Michael J. Jordan was born in Wilmington, North Carolina."

I stopped right there. First off, if anyone's intimately familiar with Jordan's background from a host of resources - either first hand accounts or secondary sources, he was actually born in Brooklyn, New York, but spent his boyhood to teen years in Wilmington. He attended high school there, even the gym was named after him at E.A. Laney High School later on in life. He had a hard time getting on the basketball team because he was "too short" to play as a sophomore, but was able to make the JV and eventually the Varsity team during his last two years of school there. One can read more about what his life was like past that point in other sources.

My point is that if you don't know your subject enough to get the details right, you're going to have problems and have people call you out on it. That wasn't the only inaccuracy in that particular biography on Jordan, but it certainly stood out considering it was the very first measure addressed. The presentation of details are also key to the tone and overarching picture a biography takes on.

So here we are approaching the life of erotica writer E.L. James, known for the widely known trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey". (Really, you’re going to do a biography on someone whose claim to fame happened in the last maybe two years? Not that I’m discounting James’ work in television – that’s worth its own merits to be fair, and I’m not trying to discount that). I'm going to address one point off the bat - I had a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to read “The Secret Life of E.L. James”, because there have been so many knock-off "Fifty Shades" related literature in the past year trying to feed into the cash cow epidemic it's spawned. I wondered if I could even remotely take this seriously. But when I saw this offered as an ARC and under biographies, I thought "I might as well give it a try - if it provides a little more into E.L. James life and the process of how this trilogy came to be and the balance of things, for better and worse - it should be worth looking into. I might even gain some insights about it."

I'm going to say this first in the aftermath of reading "The Secret Life of E.L. James" - nothing in this book is really "secret" - it's just a compilation of already provided information one can find in a plethora of interviews in various mass media. That's not what I take issue with in this book, however. To be fair, there have been several biographies that have taken details from a variety of media, but usually it would be from a combination of primary and secondary sources. I don't think Shapiro's account had any primary sources to speak of - most of what I saw were chiefly secondary and suppositions/details from the rumor mill.

The long and the short of it is - without mincing words about it, this biography is largely an arrogant, self-absorbed, pandering portrayal of James. If Shapiro's intention was to make me like E.L. James, appreciate her journey to fame, and learn a bit more about her and her book series for the cost of the book ($15.99 for the book, $9.99 for ebook), he failed miserably. It’s really not worth the high cost, you could read this inside an hour. It's chock full of inaccuracies and contradictions, and the prose makes James seem like the second coming of...something. I don't know what to term it - it's just so over-the-top.

I'm not saying that this biography should've been heavily negative or positive, but balanced. I may be a critic of James on the level that I think "Fifty Shades" started the epidemic of pulled to publish fanfiction (which violates a moral code in itself) that's largely unedited, unresearched, and downright offensive on the level of portraying romantic relationships, erotic literature, and even an inaccurate picture of BDSM lifestyles. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm a "hater" or someone who can't appreciate hearing about where James started and learning a bit more about her person. A more apt biographer would've been more cognizant of the language they were using to portray their subject as well as knowledgeable about the positive statements and criticisms surrounding their subject. I'm not going to say that Shapiro didn't address criticisms surrounding James. Oh no, he did something far worse - he actively dismissed them right after citing them. You don't do that in a biography. You could get away with it if this was an opinion piece, but it's not.

*heavily sighs* Let's address this biography bit by bit and perhaps I can answer the question of what exactly went wrong with this work.

I'm going to start with the good about this biography, because there's really very little to be said about the good inclusions. I did appreciate that there were brief segments in the end of the biography about the history of erotica and film recommendations for erotic movies, including "Secretary" and "The Story of O". Yet, I still think the inclusions should've gone further, and oddly, the author doesn't even consider some of the modern writers of erotica in that brief history that have made a name for themselves in sales. Where these oversights, or just that the author didn't want to supposedly give light to them for competitive reasons?

There were also listings of songs from the classical album that EMI released in relation to "Fifty Shades" (I remember seeing them in stores) as well as the song playlists that James used for each book, notably. I wonder where the author subsequently got these playlists - it would've been nice to know if it came from a primary or secondary source but the citations are all jumbled at the end of the work. Some of them are cited in text as far as interviews and such goes, but it was hard to know where some of the material came from in the written accounts that weren't cited directly.

I'll give some credit to Shapiro on some details of James' early life, but I still expected more out of it. It was very limited in scope and lacked quite a bit of intimacy (which I guess could be attributed to the fact that it's unauthorized, but I've seen other unauthorized biographies delve into their subjects more than this.) It felt like a listing of things, and I'll be honest - It would've been nice to at least hear a bit about what James liked about working on those respective TV shows and maybe a little more details regarding them. If you weren't familiar with those shows on the BBC, you would have no idea from this biography what they were, how popular they were, what kind of impact they made and what kind of impact James made in those.

James respective fanfiction history is relatively short in this biography in comparison to the rest of the book, and some of it either inaccurate and leaves information out. First of all, Shapiro totally gets James fanfiction handle wrong. (He puts IceQueen SnowDragon, it's actually SnowQueensIceDragon or SQID). He also doesn't mention how James actually slammed and shunned the fanfic community that made her famous (though he does mention that James wanted to distance herself from the Twilight fic "Masters of the Universe".) There were a number of public scuffles and cases where James put her foot in her mouth about her accounts of fandom activities (such as a charity she wrote for, but claims she never wanted to do it).

It does talk quite a bit about her journey to publication with "The Writers Coffee Shop" (known for publishing many Twilight fanfics) and ultimately to Vintage and the many copies it sold to that point. There are also discussions of the individual characters: Christian and Anastasia and where their names were derived. It's interesting that in the discussion of where James came up with Christian's character - there's the mention that she got the character name from the series "Nip Tuck", but when you get into the latter part of the book, under the heading of the film "Secretary" - it mentions that James might've seen and been inspired in part to name her character by that mode. Why wasn't that mentioned in the section on Christian as well?

There is mention that Goodreads was one of the prime motivators of the book series going viral, among other social media sites and the blog tour that was launched shortly after it exploded. It did follow up with some mentions of criticisms by Dear Author and Galley Cat on the 89% similarities made between the "Master of the Universe" and "Fifty Shades", but Shapiro is quick to dismiss them as "conspiracy theories."

Then there was language about "naysayers" later in the book as the book was picked up by Vintage. And yet another note, when the conversation moves to the acquiring of a movie deal on "Fifty Shades," he discusses how the news brought its share of praises and critics, but notably colors the critics in this form:

"Others prone to petty jealousies derided James for throwing her money around in a diva-like fashion."

Terms like "naysayers," "haters," "conspiracy theorists" among other terms are not language you want to use in a biography, not unless you have verifiable proof to the claim that it has no basis in truth, and even then, you would use the neutral "critics". Shapiro presented no tangible arguments in using those terms or portrayals, and even then, his use of language in those measures were really vague, if addressed at all.

What I was most offended by were the arbitrary comparisons Shapiro dared to make concerning E.L. James to Harper Lee (author of To Kill A Mockingbird), J.K. Rowling, among a number of already well established authors who have made names for themselves in a prolonged span of time and recognition for their works. James really hasn't been around that long in comparison, and I don't even know how you can compare the quality of her work to those authors or even make mention of her in the scheme of those authors at all. It just...it doesn't make any kind of sense. Granted, the context of what Shapiro shares with the comparison to Harper Lee was noting whether or not James would only have this trilogy to her name and then "fade into obscurity." "To Kill a Mockingbird" was a classic work because of its strong social commentary and has been in literature for more than 50 years - its impact has not faded, and neither has Lee's name. You can't even compare that to James, which "Fifty Shades" has not been released for even ten years. Will people even remember "Fifty Shades" in that time? That has yet to be seen, and there's no way of telling that ten years down the line, someone else might write a far more stellar erotica novel that might blow James' portrayal out of the water. What Shapiro does is more on the level of riding the wave of the current hype train and not taking into consideration the gravity of those comparisons.

The epilogue (there's an epilogue in this biography?) was where I really hit the wall with this particular book, and where the book shows its most biased language. First of all, James' story is not a "classic rags to riches story." James already had her calling as a TV/media personality and was doing well for herself in that, and she used connections in the fandom community as well as those in her circles and such to have "Fifty Shades" marketed in the most profitable way possible. There are people who don't even have those kinds of resources, and many erotica authors who write far more superior works who don't even get the same mileage. Also, Stephenie Meyer and J.K. Rowling did not "carve out a template" for James specifically.

It's interesting that Shapiro states directly in one mode that "We may not agree with much of her approach, and admittedly, much of what goes out on her watch is borderline tacky," but then turns around and says in the same page "...We must all cut E.L. James some slack. Because she is doing what we would all do in her shoes."

He can speak for himself on the latter.

On one hand it's like he's praising her work, next making vague criticisms (while knocking down tangible ones), and then the next saying that people should give her a break. I don't know whether this is supposed to be a biography or a veiled defense.

Overall, I would not recommend this biography for anyone. It's not very well written, has several inaccurate statements and comparisons, and it's an overhyped, overpraising account that doesn't attempt to hide its share of biases.

Overall score: 1/5

Note: I received this ARC from NetGalley from the publisher.

[Anastasia ｼ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review posted at SoManyBooksSoLittleTime

[Mermarie]

Sitting around and pining over Twilight boys, with whips&chains thrown in, isn't really all that remarkable or a life changing catharsis, that would require a biographic outline of your uneventful, no contribution to society/humanity existence. She didn't cure cancer, or rescue African babies from famine and starvation. WTF is so great about a PORN-TO-TEXT author? What's so unique about everyday life? The issue with derivatives like “Twilight” and “50 Shades” is that all we get is the titillation.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Discover the secrets behind the Red Room of Pain

The intricacies of making love in the backseat of an expensive sports car"



"The rough and tumble process of editing Fifty Shades of Grey"



I'm sorry is that code for changing all of the characters names so that you aren't sued for plagiarism?

"Marc Shapiro uncovers the inspiration and secrets behind this writing sensation, explaining how she did it"



Are you kidding me? Her inspiration? She played fricken MAD LIBS Twilight edition! I've read the books and they were absolute crap, not a single original thought or well written bit of prose in the whole lot.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Secret Life of E.L. James, Marc Shapiro tells the story of the woman behind Fifty Shades of Grey. Hers is a writer’s cinderella story: forty-something working mother of two turns her penchant for reading romance novels on the tube and writing fanfiction to penning not one, but three best selling novels. This unauthorized biography chronicles that journey from her years working in television to becoming the first writer in history to hold the top three spots on the NY Times Best Sellers List at one time. E.L. James went from an unknown to a publishing phenomenon who brought sexuality and eroticism to the forefront of our national dialogue, breathed new life into the erotic romance industry and turned the publishing world upside down. Shapiro tells us exactly how she did it. The Secret Life of E.L. James is a must-read not simply for grey-sessed Fifty Shades fans, but for anyone who’s ever had a dream. In an age when economic security is a misnomer and it seems tragedy looms around every corner, it is nice to read a [true] story with a happy ending (no pun intended).

[Nermin]

No way! this is not real, right? someone actually bothered to write a EL James biography ? why would anybody do that? who would want to read about mysterious life of EL James? As far as I'm concerned she was suffering from midlife crisis, probably hadn't had sex with her husband for quite a while. and then she read a trashy novel and turned it into an even trashier one. What else is there to know? Plus Fifty Shades hasn't sold more copies than Harry Potter series. Harry Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide. fifty shades hasn't sold even 100 million copies.

[AnnaLund]

$15.99 for the paperback on Amazon.

When all you need is a little google-fu to know that this is a middle-aged woman's wank fantasy about (Robert Pattinson, starring) Edward Cullen in Twilight.

No real "secret" to the life of EL James.

And no stars for this book.

[Jojo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously, is this even needed. She wrote fanfiction, changed her characters names and then published it. Now people are all obsessed with handcuffs but in a more public mannor. AND PLEASE, HENRY CAVILL IS SOOO NOT CHRISTIAN GREY (AKA EDWARD CULLEN). That is all, thank you. :)

[Filipe Bica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para quem gosta de E.L. James e pretende saber um pouco mais sobre esta escritora, aqui fica uma biografia interessante.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems pretty important to start this review by admitting that I actually have never read any of the FIFTY SHADES books at all -- so I can make no intelligent statements about the series without relying on assumptions (which may end up being true, but which are still all together unfair in an unbiased book review). That said, I'm only reviewing THE SECRET LIFE OF E.L. JAMES for what it is in itself and not necessarily for what it may or may not conclude about the series.

Anyways, I feel like the title is pretty deceiving, because there really aren't any secrets exposed anywhere in the story. This is really less the story of E.L. James and more the narration of how FIFTY SHADES evolved from internet fan-fiction to a best selling series and finally a movie in the making.

Honestly, I really expected for there to be more focus on Twilight, given that FIFTY SHADES was directly started as a fan fiction. I am curious to know what those who have read the series think because Shapiro made it seem as if James really edited all of the Twilight influences completely out of the story -- and this is definitely not what friends of mine have led me to believe based on their readings of the series.

One thing that is interesting is that Shapiro points out that even James does not claim for the series to be one that is particularly well written. He points out that James herself has often made the point that she is not a great writer and, inevitably, that point is made in even the most complimentary reviews. So, luckily nobody is trying to praise the novel for it's literary prowess, even when the majority of the book reads as a defense as to why the trilogy is more than fan fiction or "Mommy porn".

It was a bit odd to see FIFTY SHADES compared to Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye, although Shapiro was really making more reference to the instantaneous fame of the author rather than the literary complexity or the longevity of the novels themselves. I'm curious to see how long people will really read and remember the FIFTY SHADES trilogy.

There definitely were some very humorous segments of the book, like when James admitted that she asked an Audi salesman details about the logistics of having sex in the back of one of the cars, even going so far as to ask if she and her husband may position themselves within an expensive car, just for reference sake. At another point, a fan introduces herself and admits to James that FIFTY SHADES helped her to get her first spanking as an adult, which makes the shy author feel awkward and unable to properly respond.

There was one section, about the break down of the first book tour, that was just excruciatingly boring, to me at least. With so many things being glossed over or wrapped in tight little boxes, it was odd to have such precise attention to detail during this little segment of the story.

I think I would more recommend this book to those who want a brief history of the FIFTY SHADES trilogy and it's quick rise to (short lived?) success, much more so than a tale of any particular secrets about the life of the author. I did find the parts where the author described one side effect of the trilogy as the phenomenon by which these books made it perfectly acceptable for women to carry and discuss erotica in public. I have indeed seen people proudly reading these titles in restaurants, at work, in class, and in a number of other places that I never really expected to see people reading novels about BDSM, for sure.

For those who loathe the FIFTY SHADES trilogy, I do think you may find the author to be overly defensive of both James and her work and overly sensitive to what might actually be honest, constructive criticisms of the work. It is clear that Shapiro is trying hard to argue that the success of these novels is highly warranted -- it is just not clear whether many readers will dare to agree with this bold assertion.

[Carla Marques · Rating 1 out of 5]

Opinião:
Que desilusão de livro, sinto-me enganada pelo titulo deste livro.
Isto é apenas e somente bocados de entrevistas e de respostas que E. L. James deu, misturado com coisas normais da vida dela.
Não tem nada de secreto e nada de especial, senti-me mesmo enganada.
Opinião completa em: https://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.co...

[Marleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb for this book sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Except that it wasn’t, not really. To be honest, I’ve got to admit that it can’t be easy writing an un-authorized biography these days. With all sorts of information about virtually everybody freely available on the internet and the book’s subject not participating in the work, it must be all but impossible to come up with information that isn’t already widely available in the public arena. And writing a book about a phenomenon like E.L. James and her trilogy only makes that problem bigger. The lady and her books have been written and talked about by anybody and everybody; from professional reviewers and journalists to fellow authors and enthusiastic amateurs like me. So my first observation about this book is that it didn’t contain anything that was new or surprising to me and I it would astonish me if anybody else interested in this author will find anything they didn’t already know in this book.

My second observation is that the blurb makes this book sound a bit more exciting than it actually is. For example, if you’re hoping to discover something exciting about that “red room of pain” you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Yes, the room gets mentioned, but not in the way you might imagine or hope.

And then there are the mistakes. I came across two bits of information that I know for sure were wrong. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books are a quartet and not a trilogy as stated in this work. And “Need” by Sherri Hayes is not her second book, although it is the second title in her wonderful “Finding Anna” series. The worry of course is that if I can pick up on two mistakes this easily, there could well be a lot more misinformation here that I haven’t picked up on. I don’t know and am willing to give Mr. Shapiro the benefit of the doubt but I would say: reader beware.

And finally I want to point out one inconsistency that annoyed me. In the first part of the book, when Marc Shapiro writes about the days when James first started writing her story, he states that she wrote for her personal pleasure with no thoughts of getting published, never mind fame and fortune. By the time he gets to the end of the book though, he is suddenly telling us what a clever business woman she is and that she had been planning her marketing strategy from a very early stage. Obviously it can only be one or the other, and this book doesn’t tell us which one it is.

So, after all those complaints, why did I still rate this book 3.5 stars? First and foremost because it was an easy and smooth read. I flew through the pages and enjoyed some of the quotes I ran across:

I liked the answer James’ husband gave when asked what it was like being married to an author of erotic fiction: “Mostly it’s just like being married”

And the following two from James herself:

"There are a lot of ways to describe an orgasm. But at a certain point I ran out of ways."

"I think first person point of view is much easier to write than third person point of view. So naturally I took the easy way out."

I also think this might be a nice little book for anyone who wants to have all their information on E.L. James together in one place. Marc Shapiro has taken all the bits and pieces available in the media and arranged them in a very accessible way, saving fans the trouble of having to do the work themselves. And with James having many millions of enthusiastic fans I am sure there is a good market for this book.

I also liked the extra information available after the actual biography has concluded: discographies, of the classical albums as well as the list as blogged by James, a history of erotic fiction and a piece on Cinema Erotic.

This is a nice little book about an interesting author provided you’re not hoping to discover anything you didn’t already know.

[Glass House Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of us have grown weary of Fifty Shades of Everything, while some readers still can't get enough of all things Grey. Fans of this explosive erotic trilogy of books still have film versions to look forward to, and perhaps a retelling of the story through Christian's point of view, if the rumors come true. It's not surprising to see how other authors and publishers are claiming a spot in the Fifty mania - there are cookbooks, marital guides, and now a biography of the author, E.L. James.

A bit of disclosure here: I have only read Fifty Shades of Grey, and I did not enjoy it. I know the books were borne of Twilight fan fiction, altered to create an original story, and since I have not read any of the Twilight books I have no point of reference in that respect. Of course, James's works are meant to stand on their own, but as Marc Shapiro's book reveals, the books of Stephanie Meyer remain a presence.

The Secret Life of E.L. James is quite short, only 175 pages in print. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since there really isn't much to say here about E.L. James that you can't find through a Google search. Shapiro's research on James appears to consist primarily of interviews found on blogs and news websites - quotes and facts are cobbled together to present a brief chronology of the events that brought a fan fiction epic called "Master of the Universe" into a hot Hollywood property. One probably doesn't need 175 pages to tell the story.

Secret Life is a book for the fans. If you devour Fifty Shades on a daily basis, you will likely find this book interesting. As somebody who knows authors and has met many authors over the years, I breezed through it quickly. It may be too soon to write the life story of E.L. James - if she is able to duplicate this success with future books, that might be worth writing about.

ARC received from NetGalley.

~ Claire Stone for Glass House Reviews
(c) 2013 Glass House Reviews

[Donna Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a bit more from this book than the author actually covered. It was billed as the "secret" life of EL James but the book was made up of extracts from interviews that she had done with other people and for magazines which were then collated and padded out. Even though I knew the book was written by someone other than EL James I had expected more content of things that were "secret" not regurgitated stories that had already been told elsewhere, it was well written so I give it 3 stars but it was disappointing. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short book, which makes sense because there really isn't much to say. Everything you would want to know about EL James you could easily find via Google. This book serves to collect everything in one place.

[Lori Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know how she did it, read this book.