TORONTO — Dozens of bookstores across Canada were open early on Thursday to satisfy customers anxious to wrap their hands around the latest Fifty Shades of Grey book.
Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian was officially released on the character’s birthday.
“Christian is a complex character and readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations, and his troubled past,” author E.L. James wrote in the book’s opening pages.
“Also, as everyone who has ever been in a relationship knows, there are two sides to every story.”
According to publisher Vintage Books, the first three Fifty Shades books — Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed — have sold more than 125 million copies combined in 52 languages since 2012.
The books followed the romance between S&M-loving billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele.
The Vancouver-shot film adaptation, released in February, grossed about $570 million at the box office worldwide.
“This book,” James wrote, “is dedicated to those readers who asked … and asked … and asked … and asked for this.”
According to Associated Press writer Leanne Italie, Grey is “bereft of any true surprises, like so many other add-ons.
“To the very last drop of her retold story, Christian is just as he needs to be, at once gentle and rough, in need of control but compliant.”
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