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Man in the Mirror : Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City
Overview
From acclaimed journalist Anand Giridharadas, a groundbreaking feat of reporting on a tragic encounter in a New York subway car that held up a mirror to a troubled and divided nation"A tour de force of sharp-eyed reporting, powerful narrative, and heartbreaking tragedy. . . . Brilliant and spellbinding."
--Robert B. Reich, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Coming Up Short In 2023, the lives of two men--Jordan Neely, a homeless man known in better days for his Michael Jackson impersonations, and Daniel Penny, an ex-Marine who had moved to the big city seeking more than Long Island could offer--collided tragically in a New York subway car. In Man in the Mirror, award-winning reporter and bestselling author Anand Giridharadas renders this deadly encounter and its aftermath as a propulsive crime story that opens onto a larger human drama: the search for belonging in an age of estrangement. Inhabiting the perspectives of an unforgettable cast of characters, Giridharadas immerses us in the places where this story plays out, from the corridors of power in City Hall to subway benches where New Yorkers spend the night, from a Marine Corps base to a Harlem church in mourning--and, ultimately, to a courtroom where a riveting battle unfolds. In his painstakingly reported, richly novelistic narrative, these characters' strivings and struggles--to care for loved ones and strangers, to protect the public, to seek justice--reveal the humanity behind the headlines. Through one character's eyes and then another's, Giridharadas presents a chapter of American history too often reduced to divisive clickbait as something far more complex and full of life. At once panoramic in its scope and finely detailed in its emotional immediacy, Man in the Mirror is a tour de force of narrative reporting and an indispensable portrait of our times.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780593802014
- ISBN-10: 0593802012
- Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
- Publish Date: September 2026
- Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.45 pounds
- Page Count: 480
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As the title suggests, Anand Giridharadas’ Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City is an exploration of reflections. In 2023, ex-Marine Daniel Penny, who is white, put Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely, who was Black, in a chokehold on a New York City subway train. Neely was unhoused, mentally ill and visibly agitated when he boarded the F Train that unfortunate day. He instigated a verbal altercation with passengers, and Penny stepped in. Neely died, and Penny—lauded as a hero by many—was charged with second-degree manslaughter. Nineteen months later, Penny was acquitted. The case was widely reported, but Giridharadas takes the story beyond the courtroom and its final verdict. Through a large cast of characters, including witnesses to the crime, protesters and counterprotesters at the courthouse, Neely’s fellow street performers, Al Sharpton and then-health commissioner Ashwin Vasan, Giridharadas expands the investigation to include the systems and choices that led to Neely’s circumstances and Penny’s behavior. There’s no single narrative: Everyone has an opinion about what occurred on that train, and why. The disorder and chaos of NYC transit threads through this narrative. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many New Yorkers were cut off from social and psychiatric services, and violent crime on the subway briefly increased. Penny’s defense argues that the incident “wasn’t about murder or vigilantism. [It] was about the right of all of us to defend each other.” As Giridharadas paraphrases, “this wasn’t about Penny and Neely. This was about the fear you felt and maybe thought you couldn’t voice.” On the other side, Giridharadas writes that the team prosecuting Penny asserted that the case “was not about disorder but about dehumanization. It was about the powerful and the powerless.” Public services and systems had failed Neely, returning him again and again to the streets. He was a friend to many, a celebrated performer, and he met a brutal, unnecessary end. With thorough and detailed reporting, Giridharadas illustrates the fractured narrative of the United States itself, ultimately asking, “Who gets to be granted the assumption of humanity, of being a complex person full of wants and dreams and stories?” A stark and haunting snapshot of modern America, Man in the Mirror reflects our divided nation and the costs of our disconnection from one another.
As the title suggests, Anand Giridharadas’ Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City is an exploration of reflections. In 2023, ex-Marine Daniel Penny, who is white, put Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely, who was Black, in a chokehold on a New York City subway train. Neely was unhoused, mentally ill and visibly agitated when he boarded the F Train that unfortunate day. He instigated a verbal altercation with passengers, and Penny stepped in. Neely died, and Penny—lauded as a hero by many—was charged with second-degree manslaughter. Nineteen months later, Penny was acquitted. The case was widely reported, but Giridharadas takes the story beyond the courtroom and its final verdict. Through a large cast of characters, including witnesses to the crime, protesters and counterprotesters at the courthouse, Neely’s fellow street performers, Al Sharpton and then-health commissioner Ashwin Vasan, Giridharadas expands the investigation to include the systems and choices that led to Neely’s circumstances and Penny’s behavior. There’s no single narrative: Everyone has an opinion about what occurred on that train, and why. The disorder and chaos of NYC transit threads through this narrative. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many New Yorkers were cut off from social and psychiatric services, and violent crime on the subway briefly increased. Penny’s defense argues that the incident “wasn’t about murder or vigilantism. [It] was about the right of all of us to defend each other.” As Giridharadas paraphrases, “this wasn’t about Penny and Neely. This was about the fear you felt and maybe thought you couldn’t voice.” On the other side, Giridharadas writes that the team prosecuting Penny asserted that the case “was not about disorder but about dehumanization. It was about the powerful and the powerless.” Public services and systems had failed Neely, returning him again and again to the streets. He was a friend to many, a celebrated performer, and he met a brutal, unnecessary end. With thorough and detailed reporting, Giridharadas illustrates the fractured narrative of the United States itself, ultimately asking, “Who gets to be granted the assumption of humanity, of being a complex person full of wants and dreams and stories?” A stark and haunting snapshot of modern America, Man in the Mirror reflects our divided nation and the costs of our disconnection from one another.