E.L. James’ bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy was pulled from the Boston College Bookstore last Monday, then returned to shelves by the end of the week. The BC Bookstore stopped selling the novels after a complaint requesting that they be taken off of shelves was made to both the Bookstore and the University.
The popular provocative romance series consists of Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, which trace the developing relationship between college student Anastasia Steele and young entrepreneur Christian Grey, as they embark upon a passionate love affair.
The books have sold over 100 million copies in 52 languages. A film adaptation of the first volume was released in February to immense success, bringing in over $85 million worldwide and breaking box office records over its opening weekend.
Last Monday, Tina Plotegher, the assistant director of the Bookstore, said that the Bookstore made the decision to remove the book after an “outside complaint” was made to both the Bookstore and the University. The complaint was made by a graduate student at BC, according to BC spokesman Jack Dunn.
Follett Corp., the company that runs the Bookstore, made the decision to remove the book—not the BC Bookstore—based on its complaint-reviewing protocol, Dunn said.
“When we learned about the incident, we urged Follett to reconsider their decision in light of the inappropriateness of removing books from a bookshelf at a university,” Dunn said in an email.
Books have been pulled from the BC Bookstore in the past, according to Plotegher.
“We pull the book, have a conversation, and make a determination,” said Elio DiStaola, Follett’s director of public and campus relations, in The Boston Globe. “In this case, we put it back on the shelf.
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