Circus of Books

This is a very interesting documentary of the life of a straight Jewish couple. Seeking income of any sort, they start distributing Hustler magazine, then take over a bookstore whose owner has been delinquent in payments. It turns out that the bookstore's main business is gay porn, and they manage to make a success of a business they don't fully understand. Their good reputation in the porn community lead to their producing gay porn movies, including ones by superstar Jeff Stryker. Along the way, they have to deal with people disappearing in the AIDS era, a porn prosecution under the Regan administration, keeping a blind eye to what was happening in their "back room", and keeping their 3 children from learning what the "bookstore" really sells.

The last part becomes ironic, when 1 of their sons had to come out as gay, which did bother his religious mother. Meanwhile, this movie was a project of their daughter, who managed to get intimate confessions that would not be possible with a stranger

Circus of Books is not a documentary about the LGBTQ community per se, however, it shows a slice of the community history from a perspective of a straight couple that, given the opportunity, decided to make a living with a gay porn magazine and film store. From a more critical perspective, it shows hypocrisy from a religious mom that profits out of the gay culture (big corporations do that these days) but who is also homophobic to some degree towards her own gay son -- I appreciated that the daughter, who's also queer, shows this raw side of her mother without trying to cover it up. As they also show the mother's own journey to learn how to accept and love her gay son. From a political perspective, the documentary quickly shows the persecution and religious moralism that the US government used to oppress the community, which we can see happening again under the current administration. It also touches the sad times of the HIV crisis, though focused more on how it affected the porn store. Finally, from a cultural perspective, it nostalgically shows the 80's and 90's gay habits to go out and meet face to face, at the store, or at a nearby alley - things that no longer happen in the current online days.Overall, it's a really interesting and emotional documentary, a family story with just a glimpse of the challenges, glory, resistance and beauty and of the gay community!

"Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans" John Lennon This is a fascinating documentary about a Jewish family "The Masons" and their business Circle of Books "Gay Adult Bookstore." The director (Rachel Mason) did a fine job in contrasting the evolution of her family with the world. What I love most about this documentary are the Masons, they are so sweet and kind. The director travels back to the eighties and explore the social political climate of that decade which permitted this business to thrive but also the challenges it faced during the Reagan presidentship. I would love to meet Rachel and her family to give them a hug and a huge thank you. The Masons are the very example of what people should strive to be, smart, open minded and kind. I was moved by them and it is not about gay pornography but rather about the freedom to be your own true self in a world that often forces individuals to conform to unhealthy beliefs and outdated self righteous morals.

'Circus of Books' tells the unconventional story of a straight Jewish couple who just happened to run the most legendary gay porn bookstore in Los Angeles, United States. It often loses its focus midway through, but the charming and quirky documentary is a slice of LGBTQ culture and history definitely worth to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this program.

Understanding how the family got involved in the business, footage from when the parents met and through their family's growth made for very emotive viewing.