One of their biggest buyers of the gay titles was the West Hollywood shop Book Circus. “ New York Review of Books never sold very well,” Karen laments. The Masons would become one of the first distributors of Hustler, eventually broadening their inventory as Flynt’s output diversified, also peddling gay magazines Blueboy, Honcho, Mandate, Woodworking, and more. Starting a family and strapped for cash, they responded to a full-page ad Larry Flynt had taken out looking for independent distributors for his racy magazines that mainstream clients wouldn’t touch. It’s quite beautiful, catching the eye of Ryan Murphy, who executive produces, and Netflix, which scooped up the film earlier this week ahead of its premiere for streaming on its service.
On the latter note specifically, the film explores how something we blush and giggle about-gay porn-became the barrier to and eventually the catalyst for the deepest connections the Mason family would eventually forge.Ĭircus of Books starts as a gonzo movie about a wacky way of living, but follows that thread as it reveals how that lark of a profession became a life’s work, and then a spiritual and human calling. Rachel Mason directs the film, using her parents’ unexpected careers to explore myriad topics, weaving them all together with cheeky, though heartfelt aplomb: the struggles of operating a small business the history of the LGBT community in West Hollywood, where Circus of Books was located and became a sanctuary for decades the curios of an unusual career and the evolving relationship between parents and their children. Their story is now being told in Circus of Books, a riotous and surprisingly emotional documentary. For more than 30 years, Karen and Barry Mason owned and operated Circus of Books, a bookstore and Los Angeles LGBT landmark that happened to also be a hardcore gay porn shop and adult film business.