“Sex” sizzles at NIU.

“Sex,” a book released last week by controversial music star Madonna, is apparently the hottest item in stores around DeKalb.

The much-hyped book features explicit photos of Madonna in various sexual situations and has caused quite an uproar since its release.

The fast-moving book might be hard to find, however. David Systma, owner of the Junction Book Store, said, “We received 70 copies of the book and since it was released we’ve sold over half of our stock.”

“There was only a set number of copies in print and that is one of the reasons that there are not any books readily available,” Systma said.

Roger Anderson, an employee at Northern Lights Book Store said, “We already are sold out of all our copies but we have put some copies on back order.”

The retail price for “Sex” is $39.96 at the Junction but at other stores the book is selling for $49.95. Other area stores carrying the book are Rose Records and Record Revolution.

Gary Gates, student supervisor of the University Book Store said, “We had ordered copies but because of the huge response we have not received any.”

The University Book Store has copies of the book on back order, he said.

“There might be a future rerelease of the book but that is still being determined by the publisher,” Systma added.

He said one of the reasons for this is that the book is very difficult to put together and therefore takes a long time to put in print.

Sytsma said the book is comprised “mainly of black and white photos.” The book uses a limited amount of text in a variety of styles, he said.

“It is amazing how popular a book can become with a lot of publicity,” Systma added. “This is more of a media event than a book event.”

Despite the hype, at least one NIU student is still interested. Mary Borem, a senior economics major said, “I know this book is a publicity stunt but I like it and I would buy it.”