Anand Giridharadas with Steve Scher

New York City in 2023 was no stranger to the strains currently impacting many of our urban landscapes – heated political divides, ailing infrastructure, and struggling aid systems. These factors are uniquely felt, but not unfamiliar or unrelatable to many across the nation.

These issues were then thrown into even sharper relief when 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 city seeking more than Long Island could offer – collided tragically on a subway car on an unassuming May afternoon. This fatal incident brought forward an intense response and layers of legal and political involvement that gripped the public – including journalist and author Anand Giridharadas.

Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City  examines this tragedy through Giridharadas’s acute on-the-ground reporting in the early days following Neely’s death and compelling evaluation of the prosecution that followed.  Man in the Mirror  follows the many complicated figures involved in the case and the complexity of the systemic failures, vulnerable groups, and personal responsibilities at play. Giridharadas presents his keenly assembled research within an immersive narrative that aims to humanize rather than scandalize. With a panoramic view of one harrowing example of the type of socio-political impacts that can be felt nationwide,  Man in the Mirror  seeks to portray this case with critical empathy at a critical time.