With the phenomenal success of E L James’ bestselling Fifty Shades trilogy – which has brought unadulterated erotica to mainstream readers and inspired countless writers to, ahem, try their hands at self-publishing erotic literature – I thought it would be fun to compile a list of science fiction and fantasy classics that sound like they could be considered deviant erotica à la Fifty Shades of Grey – but (thankfully) aren’t.
• The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
• Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
• The Star Fox by Poul Anderson
• R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury
• Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
• The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
• The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer Lytton
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
• Forbidden Area by Pat Frank
• Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
• The Mount by Carol Emshwiller
• The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
• Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
• Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
• Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley
• Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
• Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
• Steel Beach by John Varley
And here are a few relatively new releases that have the potential to be incorrectly shelved in the erotica section:
• Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
• Lay Saints by Adam Connell
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• Lord of Bones by Justine Musk
• The Unit by Terry DeHart
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for the last two decades and has written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and BarnesandNoble.com. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. You can follow him on Twitter at @paulgoatallen and get all the latest Barnes & Noble book news from @BNBuzz.
I read this on Sunday morning. I am still thinking when I see a book title how it could be misinterpreted. This article was so much fun. I have been teasing my daughter about reading Fifty Shades of Grey. But now I can see there will be payback when she sees the titles of the books I read. Luckily on the Nook most people don't know what you are reading. 
