“Circus of Books” Review by Brooke Daugherty : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Circus of Books” Review by Brooke Daugherty

June 7, 2020 3:47 pm |

To be completely up front, I saw the thumbnail for Circus of Books on Netflix and was interested. Why? Because RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars winner, Alaska was pictured out of drag. I wondered what it could possibly be with one of my favorite personalities attached. The answer–a seemingly mild mannered Jewish family runs a prolific erotic book store in Los Angeles.

The Mason’s were in a situation where they needed to support their family of five. They answered an ad to distribute Larry Flint’s magazines and that led them to buying failing erotic bookstore Book Circus in LA. Directed by their daughter, Rachel Mason, the elder Masons are candid about their lives before and after Circus of Books.

At first, the family seems like your regular “normal” family. That is until we hear about the Mason’s lives before their children.Karen Mason had been a journalist in several cities covering crime and eventually interviewing Larry Flint about indecency. Barry Mason had been an inventor and the Mason’s made their living selling dialysis machines and other inventions by Barry to make ends meet. Rachel Mason conducted interviews with past and current employees of the store as it was closing. That’s where Alaska fits in as a former employee.

It is interesting to note the kids were not told until they were teenagers what kind of things were sold in the back room of the store where they were supposed to hide their eyes if for some reason they needed to pass through. One of the sons is Gay and he had struggles when coming out to his parents.

I had no idea this was one of the million Ryan Murphy productions on Netflix until the credits rolled. He is producing quality content while allowing these filmmakers to do their own thing. I totally recommend watching this doc unless you are offended by the sight of gay porn or sex toys.

PCL Rating: Tupperware

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅