Christodora, Tim Murphy
Christodora, Tim Murphy
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Christodora
A Novel

Author: Tim Murphy

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell, Christa Lewis, Suzanne Elise Freeman, Prentice Onayemi, Thom Rivera, Kyla Garcia, Will Damron, various narrators

Unabridged: 17 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/02/2016

Synopsis

In this vivid and compelling novel, Tim Murphy follows a diverse set of characters whose fates intertwine in an iconic building in Manhattan’s East Village, the Christodora. The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbor, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly and Jared’s lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, Milly and Jared’s adopted son Mateo grows to see the opportunity for both self-realization and oblivion that New York offers.As the junkies and protesters of the 1980s give way to the hipsters of the 2000s and they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the crowded, glass-towered city of the 2020s, enormous changes rock the personal lives of Milly and Jared and the constellation of people around them.Moving kaleidoscopically from the Tompkins Square Riots and attempts by activists to galvanize a true response to the AIDS epidemic, to the New York City of the future, Christodora recounts the heartbreak wrought by AIDS, illustrates the allure and destructive power of hard drugs, and brings to life the ever-changing city itself.

About Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy has reported on HIV/AIDS for twenty years, for such publications as Poz magazine where he was an editor and staff writer, Out, Advocate, and New York magazine, where his July 2014 cover story on the new HIV-prevention pill regimen PrEP was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Journalism. He also covers LGBT issues, arts, pop culture, travel, and fashion for publications including the New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Details, and Yahoo Style. He lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley.

About Cassandra Campbell

Original bio sent from Cassandra: Cassandra Campbell began doing voice overs as the voice for Calvin Klein’s Italian commercials. This was followed by commercial and documentary recording in both English and Italian. She has recorded many audiobooks and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as an Audie® Award nomination. As an actress and director, she has worked at the Public, the Mint, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stagewest, Theatreworks, the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Millmountain Theatre, the National Shakespeare Company, and the New York Fringe Festival.  

About Christa Lewis

Christa Lewis has narrated over two hundred audiobooks. She is a classically trained actress with a four-year conservatory training in voice and acting. She has a smart and funny vibe, but can also meet the moment in straightforward or somber works of nonfiction thanks to a seventeen-year stint as a newsreader. Christa speaks accent-free German fluently and offers a variety of believable accents and dialects. Her narrations are well received—there have been seven Earphones awards across a variety of genres—YA, literary fiction, biography and memoir—a 2019 SOVAS Voice Arts Award in Biography and two Audie nominations. Pippa Jayne was the Sultry Listeners’ Award Winner 2019 in the Erotica category.

About Prentice Onayemi

Prentice Onayemi is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator and a voice and film actor who is known for his roles in The Steam-Room Crooner, AmeriQua, and as Joey in the Tony Award–winning play War Horse.

About Kyla Garcia

Kyla Garcia is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. Born and raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, she discovered acting at the age of eight when she played Lady Macbeth in a children’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She made her off-Broadway debut at fifteen when she played Dorothy in Oz: A Twisted Musical. Eleven years after she discovered her passion for acting, she would go on to play Lady Macbeth once again in London at the Globe Theatre, where she studied Shakespeare during her third year at Mason Gross School of the Arts. She received her BFA in acting from Rutgers University.

About Will Damron

Will Damron has won several Earphones Awards and been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has had acting roles off-Broadway and on stage and screen throughout the country.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on September 11, 2017

This is on sale on Audible until 9/17! This played out great via audio! "Christodora" by Tim Murphy is a brilliant debut novel that spans decades, from 1981 until 2021. It deals with AIDS, drugs, more drugs, rehab, mental illness, homosexuality, adoption, art and many other topics. The novel is set m......more

Goodreads review by Angela M on August 10, 2016

Gritty , graphic at times and sad . Sad as hell because it's about people whose lives have been broken by AIDS or by the debilitating effects of hard core drug addiction or by mental illness. This was not an easy book to read because even though it's a fictional depiction of the AIDS epidemic, you j......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on February 20, 2017

This book. This story. So vivid, emotional and real, it hurts. The sadness about disease; about family; about the complexity of relationships and the addictive nature and destruction drugs can have. The christodora is a building. A structure with a history of tenants that spans decades. It's a sad an......more

Goodreads review by Esil on July 25, 2016

Finally, a 5 star book! Christodora has a lot of the things I love in a big sprawling novel. It has a great story, is anchored in an interesting historical context, has meaty strong characters and had me truly emotionally invested. The book spans approximately 40 years -- from 1980 to 2021 --and foc......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on November 23, 2021

This book unfolded on me like a puzzle. At first it was a confusing jumble of facts, then a frustrating, jumping muddle I couldn't seem to get my head around. But then, as the pieces started to knit together and as I started to see something evolve from the mass of parts, I began to enjoy the proces......more

Quotes

“In this audio performance, there’s not a weak link to be found. Each narrator in the group brings something unique and enjoyable to the production…Each narrator voices a person whose life pulses within those walls, and each does so with a distinctive personality and a vocal quality that adds to Murphy’s intense characterizations. Thought-provoking, precise, complex, and real, Christodora’s narrators are a glorious reflection of the novel itself. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“A real New York narrative with an absorbing story line and a gallery of characters fit for a twenty-first-century Manhattan mural.” George Hodgman, New York Times bestselling author

“Varied minds and voices are realized so convincingly…and it is joyous despite its subject matter.” New York Times Book Review

“One of the finest novels we are likely to encounter this year.” Toronto Star

“Vividly captures the diversity and tensions within the AIDS movement…No book has made me feel so intensely not just the ravages of AIDS but also the devastating cost of activism.” Washington Post

“Powerful and compelling. It feels deeply relevant even when it covers events set several decades in the past.” Minneapolis Star Tribune

“[A] brilliantly sprawling period novel about New York in the age of AIDS…richly populated and delicately nuanced.” Village Voice

“This sweeping tale of AIDS activists and the incredible changes they inspired is heart-wrenching, hopeful, and beautiful.” Book Riot

“Murphy has written The Bonfire of the Vanities for the age of AIDS…complete with a pitch-perfect deployment of period detail.” Publishers Weekly

“Activism, addiction, and the redemptive power of art feature prominently in Murphy’s perceptive novel.” Booklist (starred review)

Awards

  • Amazon Editors' Pick
  • Publishers Weekly Pick
  • Carnegie Medal for Literature
  • New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
  • Audible Editors Top Pick
  • Indie Next List
  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • ALA Notable Book
  • Voice Arts Award
  • BookRiot Pick
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