Quality of Writing Vs. The Story

With the recent success of a certain erotic romance trilogy, the world is once again thrown into controversy over the quality of the writing. I remember these same arguments when Dan Brown’s uber successful books came out.

And here is (another) comment on writersdigest throwing 50 Shades under the bus. What I can’t figure out is if it’s jealousy or if they (the collective they) have a point.

And if they have a point, does it really matter? If the quality of writing is readable, understandable, does it matter if it’s not some masterpiece? Is the story more important than the writing?

Discuss!