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Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City
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
In 2023, New York was already a city under strain, racked by panic about crime, mistrust of police, and a broken system of care for homeless and mentally ill people. Then 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 city seeking more than Long Island could offer—collided tragically in the subway. In Man in the Mirror, award-winning reporter and bestselling author Anand Giridharadas tells the riveting story of this deadly encounter and its aftermath, revealing through painstaking, on-the-ground reporting the depth of the rage, violence, and division that have defined 2020s America.
Man in the Mirror recounts Neely’s death and Penny’s prosecution through the perspectives of an unforgettable cast of among them, a lawyer avenging his failed campaign for district attorney; a Michael Jackson impersonator trying to make her mentee’s death matter; a father who leads homeless outreach work even as his son languishes on the street; a city official struggling to enact a serious mental healthcare agenda under a scandal-plagued mayor. In weaving these individual experiences into a vivid, immersive narrative tapestry, Giridharadas delivers human dimension and complexity to a chapter of American history that has been so often served up as divisive clickbait.
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 an age.
In 2023, New York was already a city under strain, racked by panic about crime, mistrust of police, and a broken system of care for homeless and mentally ill people. Then 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 city seeking more than Long Island could offer—collided tragically in the subway. In Man in the Mirror, award-winning reporter and bestselling author Anand Giridharadas tells the riveting story of this deadly encounter and its aftermath, revealing through painstaking, on-the-ground reporting the depth of the rage, violence, and division that have defined 2020s America.
Man in the Mirror recounts Neely’s death and Penny’s prosecution through the perspectives of an unforgettable cast of among them, a lawyer avenging his failed campaign for district attorney; a Michael Jackson impersonator trying to make her mentee’s death matter; a father who leads homeless outreach work even as his son languishes on the street; a city official struggling to enact a serious mental healthcare agenda under a scandal-plagued mayor. In weaving these individual experiences into a vivid, immersive narrative tapestry, Giridharadas delivers human dimension and complexity to a chapter of American history that has been so often served up as divisive clickbait.
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 an age.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published September 29, 2026
About the author
Anand Giridharadas
10 books1,169 followersAnand Giridharadas is the author of the THE PERSUADERS (2022), the international bestseller WINNERS TAKE ALL (2018), THE TRUE AMERICAN (2014), and INDIA CALLING (2011). A former foreign correspondent and columnist for The New York Times for more than a decade, he has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Time, and is the publisher of the newsletter The.Ink. He is an on-air political analyst for MSNBC. He has received the Radcliffe Fellowship, the Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award, Harvard University’s Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award for Humanism in Culture, and the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Priya Parker, and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
On May 1, 2023, Daniel Penny put Jordan Neely in a chokehold on the floor of a New York City F train, killing him. The outcome, Neely’s death, was irrefutable, but as author Anand Giridharadas explains, every other aspect of this tragic encounter was questioned and argued. The contrasting New York Times and New York Post headlines during Penny’s trial reflected the divide. For those sympathetic to Penny, New York City was exhibit #1 of “anarcho-tyranny”: chaos and crime from below and overreach and incompetence from above.
Giridharadas profiles dozens of individuals involved in the case, from then health commissioner Ashwin Vasan to Moses Harper, Neely’s friend and fellow Michael Jackson impersonator. He draws on sources such as court transcripts and conducts extensive interviews to give readers details that the headlines missed. Giridharadas also provides valuable background on mental health and explains competing strategies to address the crisis: forcing care, focusing on harm reduction, or sweeping the problem away.
Giridharadas is particularly attuned to both the noble intentions and failings of bureaucracy, and how Penny’s defense is framed on a government doing “too little or too much, always at the wrong time.” The reader follows a social worker overnight as she checks in on the unhoused at Penn Station and at 207th St/Broadway. In the light of day, jargon abounds at a conference on homelessness, each participating organization an acronym making up “the whole alphabet…the room buzzed as letters met letters.”
In his author’s note, Giridharadas says he tried to portray a range of “complicated people living through a feverish and complicated time.” But the number of POVs become unwieldy; some perspectives given entire chapters at the beginning of the story are never revisited. Giridharadas falters in his unevenness; moving depictions of individuals such as Hassan Auwater and Johnny Grima only stand in contrast to those subject to condescension and caricature. Penny’s family and friends from West Islip are “good-nice,” with even the menu at the local diner used to point out their unsophistication.
At his best, Giridharadas makes readers question who the media and society at large choose to humanize. Man in the Mirror is valuable for anyone wanting to better understand and reflect on the nation’s mental health and homelessness crises, to ask themselves who has the privilege of “being a complex person full of wants and dreams and stories.”
Thank you to the author for providing my advanced copy and for speaking to a small group of New York City planners/public sector employees about the book.
Giridharadas profiles dozens of individuals involved in the case, from then health commissioner Ashwin Vasan to Moses Harper, Neely’s friend and fellow Michael Jackson impersonator. He draws on sources such as court transcripts and conducts extensive interviews to give readers details that the headlines missed. Giridharadas also provides valuable background on mental health and explains competing strategies to address the crisis: forcing care, focusing on harm reduction, or sweeping the problem away.
Giridharadas is particularly attuned to both the noble intentions and failings of bureaucracy, and how Penny’s defense is framed on a government doing “too little or too much, always at the wrong time.” The reader follows a social worker overnight as she checks in on the unhoused at Penn Station and at 207th St/Broadway. In the light of day, jargon abounds at a conference on homelessness, each participating organization an acronym making up “the whole alphabet…the room buzzed as letters met letters.”
In his author’s note, Giridharadas says he tried to portray a range of “complicated people living through a feverish and complicated time.” But the number of POVs become unwieldy; some perspectives given entire chapters at the beginning of the story are never revisited. Giridharadas falters in his unevenness; moving depictions of individuals such as Hassan Auwater and Johnny Grima only stand in contrast to those subject to condescension and caricature. Penny’s family and friends from West Islip are “good-nice,” with even the menu at the local diner used to point out their unsophistication.
At his best, Giridharadas makes readers question who the media and society at large choose to humanize. Man in the Mirror is valuable for anyone wanting to better understand and reflect on the nation’s mental health and homelessness crises, to ask themselves who has the privilege of “being a complex person full of wants and dreams and stories.”
Thank you to the author for providing my advanced copy and for speaking to a small group of New York City planners/public sector employees about the book.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Several months ago, I read Heather Ann Thompson's "Fear and Fury" about the case of subway vigilante Bernie Goetz who shot 4 black teenagers in 1984. Oddly, Goetz isn't mentioned until page 60 of Anand Giridharadas's "Man in the Mirror" about the case of Daniel Penny who killed one homeless black man in the subway almost 40 years later. Yet the one event and its aftermath lead almost directly to the second. It's not that Goetz and Penny are particularly similar. It appears they're not.
But the New York of the early 1980s, the New York that turned Goetz for many into a hero and for others into a villain, the New York of the time that, as Thompson argues, presaged our current fractured and divisive culture, is dramatically echoed as Giridharadas shows, into the New York that turned Penny into for many a hero and others a villain.
Having said that, I need to say that it's fine. Giridharadas's book, though perhaps a shade longer than it needed to be, stands alone. Interweaving stories of New York's homeless, of the mentally ill, of those determined to help them, of fear and desperation . . . really, it's a terrific job of reporting, right down to the details of Penny's trial.
Some 12 years ago, Giridharadas wrote "The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas." It's a terrific book about a man on death row for a hate murder and, more particularly, about a man he shot in a related hate crime but who survived - and tries to save his life. (I reviewed it here: https://gamso-forthedefense.blogspot....)
Giridharadas is a fine reporter and, as both books show, has a fine eye - and voice - for the contradictions and complexities of our fractured society.
But the New York of the early 1980s, the New York that turned Goetz for many into a hero and for others into a villain, the New York of the time that, as Thompson argues, presaged our current fractured and divisive culture, is dramatically echoed as Giridharadas shows, into the New York that turned Penny into for many a hero and others a villain.
Having said that, I need to say that it's fine. Giridharadas's book, though perhaps a shade longer than it needed to be, stands alone. Interweaving stories of New York's homeless, of the mentally ill, of those determined to help them, of fear and desperation . . . really, it's a terrific job of reporting, right down to the details of Penny's trial.
Some 12 years ago, Giridharadas wrote "The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas." It's a terrific book about a man on death row for a hate murder and, more particularly, about a man he shot in a related hate crime but who survived - and tries to save his life. (I reviewed it here: https://gamso-forthedefense.blogspot....)
Giridharadas is a fine reporter and, as both books show, has a fine eye - and voice - for the contradictions and complexities of our fractured society.
October 4, 2026
📖 Man in the Mirror by Anand Giridharadas
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) Thank you NetGalley for this advanced readers copy.
I always struggle to rate a book highly when it centers someone I find despicable. Here, that someone is Daniel Penny (a murderer), the man who choked the life out of Jordan Neely on a NYC subway train. Still, I can't slight this book. Its depth, its complexity, and its focus on solutions earned every star.
Say his name: Jordan Neely. He was a man. A human being. It's painful that this even needs saying, but the dehumanization is right there on Penny's face as he holds that chokehold. Calm. Aloof. Placid. People yell "you're going to kill him!" and he doesn't let go. Then he casually gets up, casually steps onto the platform, casually talks to police. No one came to Jordan's rescue. No one. Jordan Neely died on that train, and Daniel Penny was birthed as a hero on that same train.
Giridharadas traces both lives to the moment they collided. Neely's life was marked by tragedy, beginning with his mother's murder. Penny drifted, directionless, into the Marines looking for adventure. Their intersection says so much about this country.
The book goes just as deep on how America treats people living with serious mental illness. We criminalize mental illness in ways we never would a broken arm or a heart condition. We wait for crisis instead of building a long-term continuum of care. Your doctor should ask about your mental health at every annual checkup, not just your physical health. And there ARE solutions, some unconventional, all impactful. I credit the author for refusing to stop at dread.
The ending landed exactly as I feared. Penny on a NYC street corner, strangers shaking his hand and thanking him. An invitation to Mar-a-Lago. A venture capital job with zero experience. As a Black person, I've learned this truth: dehumanize someone enough and you can justify anything done to them. There is seldom accountability for choking off Black life. Sometimes there is even reward.
Emmett Till. Eric Garner. George Floyd. Same story, different names, different times. Not because of how they died, but because the system never delivered justice. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
I always struggle to rate a book highly when it centers someone I find despicable. Here, that someone is Daniel Penny (a murderer), the man who choked the life out of Jordan Neely on a NYC subway train. Still, I can't slight this book. Its depth, its complexity, and its focus on solutions earned every star.
Say his name: Jordan Neely. He was a man. A human being. It's painful that this even needs saying, but the dehumanization is right there on Penny's face as he holds that chokehold. Calm. Aloof. Placid. People yell "you're going to kill him!" and he doesn't let go. Then he casually gets up, casually steps onto the platform, casually talks to police. No one came to Jordan's rescue. No one. Jordan Neely died on that train, and Daniel Penny was birthed as a hero on that same train.
Giridharadas traces both lives to the moment they collided. Neely's life was marked by tragedy, beginning with his mother's murder. Penny drifted, directionless, into the Marines looking for adventure. Their intersection says so much about this country.
The book goes just as deep on how America treats people living with serious mental illness. We criminalize mental illness in ways we never would a broken arm or a heart condition. We wait for crisis instead of building a long-term continuum of care. Your doctor should ask about your mental health at every annual checkup, not just your physical health. And there ARE solutions, some unconventional, all impactful. I credit the author for refusing to stop at dread.
The ending landed exactly as I feared. Penny on a NYC street corner, strangers shaking his hand and thanking him. An invitation to Mar-a-Lago. A venture capital job with zero experience. As a Black person, I've learned this truth: dehumanize someone enough and you can justify anything done to them. There is seldom accountability for choking off Black life. Sometimes there is even reward.
Emmett Till. Eric Garner. George Floyd. Same story, different names, different times. Not because of how they died, but because the system never delivered justice. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
September 30, 2026
I remember reading about Jordan Neeley's death a few years back, and thought the case was so tragic. Neeley, an unhoused Michael Jackson impersonator, was put in a chokehold on a NYC subway after experiencing mental health symptoms. A fellow passenger, an ex-Marine named Daniel Penny, subdued Neeley long after he was unconscious and then no longer breathing. Penny was charged, but what unfolded was a media maelstrom that divided New Yorkers and the country. Was Neeley a dangerous man who needed to be stopped? Or was Neeley an overzealous vigilante who refused to see Neeley as a human deserving of care? This non-fiction look at the case is a totally comprehensive examination of not only the court case that transpired, but also an in-depth dive into all the many complicated elements that make up the homeless problem in this country. I appreciated Giridharadas's attention to detail, but there were some sections that felt more like long tangents. He also had a tendency to make lists of items that took me out of the action. My main complaint that kept this from being a five-star read is that I would have loved one final section that served as a conclusion to the storytelling. There were so many people's stories that we followed, and I was super curious how and what they're doing now. Maybe a bit more editing would have benefited this book, but it's still a fascinating and heart-wrenching story.
*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
October 5, 2026
MAN IN THE MIRROR by Anand Giridharadas is without a doubt one of my favorite nonfiction books this year.
I could easily write a lengthy essay about all the thoughts and feelings I have, but no one wants that. So I will simply say: Read this book, please.
The content forces us to take a hard look at the way we (society) talk about and treat the homeless/unhoused population and people with mental illness. Giridharadas does a superb job of showing both sides of this issue, liberal and conservative, as well as, and more importantly, the viewpoint of those on the streets.
Why is a man who chokes out (a polite way of saying murders) an unarmed, unhoused man in the throes of a psychotic episode hailed as a hero by so many people? Why is he not held responsible for the life he took? Why is it okay to villainize someone who is mentally ill?
"The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members." I don’t like the reflection I see in society’s mirror.
The author narrates the audiobook, and it’s phenomenal. I highly recommend both options for an immersive experience.
Thanks to Knopf for the free hardcover, and to PRH Audio (#PRHAudioPartner) for the free audiobook download!*
I could easily write a lengthy essay about all the thoughts and feelings I have, but no one wants that. So I will simply say: Read this book, please.
The content forces us to take a hard look at the way we (society) talk about and treat the homeless/unhoused population and people with mental illness. Giridharadas does a superb job of showing both sides of this issue, liberal and conservative, as well as, and more importantly, the viewpoint of those on the streets.
Why is a man who chokes out (a polite way of saying murders) an unarmed, unhoused man in the throes of a psychotic episode hailed as a hero by so many people? Why is he not held responsible for the life he took? Why is it okay to villainize someone who is mentally ill?
"The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members." I don’t like the reflection I see in society’s mirror.
The author narrates the audiobook, and it’s phenomenal. I highly recommend both options for an immersive experience.
Thanks to Knopf for the free hardcover, and to PRH Audio (#PRHAudioPartner) for the free audiobook download!*
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I live in New York City and this is a story that gripped residents for months and, for me, still lingers years later.
My heart broke for Jordan Neely whose life was cut short in 2023.
My heart also broke (a little less) for Daniel Penny who ended his life. He was reactionary to a situation that did not need to escalate, but that was his training as a Marine.
The tragedy was tremendous and a beautiful soul will never again grace us with his Michael Jackson impersonations.
In Man in the Mirror, Giridhardas digs deep into the fuller picture of what happened and led to that situation in the first place. Well researched and thoughtfully written, I learned a lot more than I'd previously known.
A gripping read.
I received an advance copy of this book and am writing this truthful review voluntarily.
My heart broke for Jordan Neely whose life was cut short in 2023.
My heart also broke (a little less) for Daniel Penny who ended his life. He was reactionary to a situation that did not need to escalate, but that was his training as a Marine.
The tragedy was tremendous and a beautiful soul will never again grace us with his Michael Jackson impersonations.
In Man in the Mirror, Giridhardas digs deep into the fuller picture of what happened and led to that situation in the first place. Well researched and thoughtfully written, I learned a lot more than I'd previously known.
A gripping read.
I received an advance copy of this book and am writing this truthful review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Man in the Mirror follows the story of Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny and the deadly subway chokehold altercation that gripped New York. As a former New Yorker, I understand what Covid did to people's psyche around the subways, but something has changed in our ability to see people's humanity in our current times and this book is a great example of that tension. Fast paced and accessible nonfiction at its best. I had forgotten how the trial ends and I highly recommend you don't refresh your memory before reading, as it takes you right up to the very last moment. I would have appreciated a bit of reflection from the author at the end, but otherwise a tremendous read.
Read
September 8, 2026Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC.
This is a non-fiction that focuses on a subway attack in New York, and I was unaware of this event. I've never been to New York, so it was an educational view into the city, the experience and the cultures. We also have background information on the people involved and a conversation about violence in our country. I learned quite a bit, and while the topics are difficult to read about and not a fun read, I appreciated the author's care and dedication in research and I learned quite a bit.
4 stars
This is a non-fiction that focuses on a subway attack in New York, and I was unaware of this event. I've never been to New York, so it was an educational view into the city, the experience and the cultures. We also have background information on the people involved and a conversation about violence in our country. I learned quite a bit, and while the topics are difficult to read about and not a fun read, I appreciated the author's care and dedication in research and I learned quite a bit.
4 stars
October 6, 2026
Incredible. Right up there with London Falling as one of the best investigative works of nonfiction this year. I could not put it down. Such a balanced, nuanced look at a tragic death, the ways in which our systems fail the most vulnerable, and the weaponization of polarized click-bait thinking. Jordan Neely's murder and its connection to his mother's murder by chokehold will stay with me--an important, painful read.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Such a powerful and informative read about the events surrounding what took place in 2023 between Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny. Great journalism and background and all the people involved and the violence that exists in this country. The writing was captivating and I truly learned so much. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Did Not Finish
May 15, 2026dnf temporarily. giridhardas is on the right side of history, but as a project, the book fractures into too many pieces for me.
October 7, 2026
this was so depressing to read. really no easy solututions (not that anyone really thought there would be)
September 27, 2026
I thought this book was interesting and super rage inducing, as I suspected it would be. I thought that, in an attempt to contextualize the case, Giridharadas sometimes zoomed out so far I forgot the book was actually about a specific case and that was a little bit disorienting. It seemed like it could have almost been two separate books.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews