‘Circus of Books’ and the family-run gay bookstore | movie review

Rachel Mason documents the story of the gay adult bookstore run by her elderly Jewish parents in Circus of Books

“I thought it was just a bookstore… with a circus theme.” That's what Alaska, a drag queen and winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars 2, had to say about Circus of Books, a store where she once worked in West Hollywood. And from the outside, the unassuming concrete facade wouldn't really reveal that behind those walls was what co-owner Karen Mason called a “hardcore gay adult business.”

The way that Karen and her husband Barry, a straight Jewish couple, fell into owning a store selling gay porn is less interesting than the point in time it happened. It was the 80s and on the precipice of the gay liberation movement. A few gay activists from the time recall their involvement in a demonstration at the Black Cat bar protesting police brutality against the gay community. Those same men called Circus of Books the “the center of the gay universe in West Hollywood.”

However, for Barry and, specifically, Karen, it was always just business. Barry worked in movie special effects before inventing a device for dialysis machines that ended up costing more than they brought in. Karen was a journalist who eventually burned out. So, when the opportunity to distribute Hustlers magazine from Larry Flynt (yes, that Larry Flynt) presented itself they pounced.

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The director of the film is the couple's daughter Rachel Mason, which adds some enjoyable banter between her and her mother, who feels almost too much of a stereotypical elderly mother. However, it's that bickering that paints a full picture of Karen. 

She's an enigma. A deeply religious woman who owns a gay porn store. However, despite the assault on obscenity put forth by the Reagan administration at the time, which I wish was explored a bit more, she's always compartmentalized her work from her beliefs. Thought many of their employees were gay, she always saw them first and foremost as people. When she says this, she doesn't fully realize how much that means to the community. Because in the end for her it's just business. 

While the documentary perhaps begins to lose its story thread midway through, it all begins to click in the end. This isn't a documentary about a quirky mom and pop shop and the cantankerous old couple that owns it. Circus of Books is Rachel Mason's way of exploring her own family's lore — the uplifting and the heartbreaking — and, more importantly, the complex woman that raised her. 

Throughout the movie, Karen chides her daughter over the purpose of it. She doesn't understand what makes the store or their story special. What she doesn't realize is that it's her own journey that is the most interesting. The back half of the movie is an emotional look at Karen's relationship and reaction to her son coming out, which challenges her ability to separate what she does from her personal life. 

It's when that story begins to take shape that Circus of Books finds its full potential. While there's much to be desired out of an exploration of how the store stood as a symbol of the gay community and how both sex and porn play a key role in gay liberation, Rachel Mason's real accomplishment is finding the story thread within her family. 

The Circus of Books is now closed. Whenever we flash to the store in the present we see how it's slowly become an artifact of its time. However, the movie makes a point to highlight that the store was just the physical location and that its meaning lives within Karen and Barry.