Sunday, September 20, 2009

Romance is in the air to escape money woes - In recession, readers buying sexy paperbacks as cheap entertainment




There are lots of things that aren't selling during the recession. But sex isn't one of them.

Similar to the Great Depression, when Gone With the Wind was the best-selling novel, people are looking for ways to escape their money troubles. So many are turning to romance novels to forget about things like unemployment and shrinking retirement funds.

''The romance industry is doing well . . . because in tough times like these, people want to be entertained and they want it to be affordable. Our romance books . . . have always guaranteed a happy ending,'' said Katherine Orr, a spokeswoman for Harlequin Enterprises.

Certainly not all romance novels are about sex, though that's a big part of the genre's appeal. (Which brings to mind a Time magazine story that reported folks are buying more condoms. Couples could be trying to avoid having another mouth to feed until the economy stabilizes, or just having some almost-free fun, but that's another story.)


Rest of article appears here.

No comments:

Post a Comment