Circus of Books

Director: Rachel Mason
Year Released: 2019
Rating: 2.0

Mason tells the story of her parents, Karen and Barry, two fairly ordinary people who just so happened to have owned (through odd circumstances) the gay adult bookstore Circus of Books (in California), got involved with the production of pornography (it skirts around this topic) and found themselves at the forefront of the obscenity debate in the country (the Feds raided them).  The fact that they created a loving and tolerant atmosphere for society's 'outcasts' is definitely a positive - it's interesting how Karen and Barry were able to 'separate' their work lives from their home lives until their son Josh came out of the closet (Barry handled it fine but Karen, still considering herself 'religious,' thought it was punishment from God) - although Rachel, being their daughter, is unable to 'separate' herself emotionally from them to be objective (she also can't resist making herself the subject too many times).  All it amounts to is a good deal of self-congratulation and is more or less a home movie with better production values ... and maybe it's just me, but I wanted to hear more about Barry's inventions prior to meeting Larry Flynt.