A review by timothyjmcl
Christodora by Tim Murphy

2.0

This book sets the stage for a sprawling history, but never delivers. It’s at times about gentrification, other times about AIDS and other times about addiction. But the author’s attentions seem too divided to deliver compelling storylines about each. Gay characters are relegated to secondary, even tertiary characters in a story about the AIDS epidemic. The topic of gentrification is tossed aside after the first chapter (odd for a book named after a building that’s a symbol of it). The main characters are barely likable and the second half of the book builds to a very disturbing revelation that never comes. The web of characters is vast and interesting, but it fails to catch anything.