We’ve reached the stage in the lifecycle of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon where copies are swamping thrift shops. In fact, one store already has so many that volunteers have built a modest fort out of the “erotic” bestsellers, and they really, really don’t want any more.
The Mirror reports from an Oxfam outpost in South Wales, there they have received “literally hundreds” of copies as donations. So many, in fact, that the article is accompanied by a picture of a respectable book fort they’ve managed to build, in case they fall under siege from Waterstone’s or something.
“We appreciate all the donations - but less Fifty Shades and more Sixties and Seventies vinyl would be good,” said the store’s Phil Broadhurst. Careful, Phil, or you’ll find yourself building a second fort from copies of Whipped Cream and Other Delights.
“There are a lot of people obsessed by Fifty Shades of Grey, we get people bringing in new copies coming in all the time,” added Broadhurst. “Enough is enough.”
Fifty Shades of Grey therefore takes its rightful place alongside Iacocca, the 1984 autobiography of car industry titan Lee Iococca, in the most-commonly-handled-by-used-bookstores-volunteers hall of fame.
