Giridharadas's "Man in the Mirror" revisits the Jordan Neely subway death

Author Anand Giridharadas has released a new nonfiction book, "Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City," built around the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train, according to publisher Penguin Random House. The book was published by Knopf on September 29, 2026, runs 480 pages in hardcover, and is also available as an ebook and as a 17-hour, 41-minute audiobook, the publisher's listing states.

What happened on the subway

Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man once known for performing as a Michael Jackson impersonator, died on May 1, 2023, after Daniel Penny, a white Marine veteran, put him in a chokehold on a New York City subway train, according to PBS NewsHour and the WSKG/WBUR report on Giridharadas's book. Penny's age at the time has been reported differently: WSKG/WBUR described him as 24, while PBS NewsHour described him as 26. Penny was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, PBS NewsHour reported.

The manslaughter charge was dismissed during jury deliberations after jurors deadlocked, at the request of prosecutors, PBS NewsHour reported. On December 9, 2024, a jury acquitted Penny of the remaining criminally negligent homicide charge, PBS NewsHour reported. Neely's father has separately filed a wrongful-death civil suit against Penny, according to the same report.

What the book covers

According to the WSKG/WBUR report, Giridharadas spent three years reporting on people connected to the case as a way of examining how a city and a country are dealing with mental illness, public-safety concerns, eroding trust in institutions, and the urge some feel to intervene on their own when they perceive danger. Penguin Random House's synopsis describes the book as following multiple perspectives across New York City settings, from City Hall corridors to subway benches, before culminating in the courtroom trial.

Writing on his own newsletter, the.ink, Giridharadas described the project as a return to the on-the-ground, 'shoe-leather' style of reporting he used at the start of his career two decades earlier. He said the reporting took him to unexpected places, including a Marine Corps base, communities of Michael Jackson impersonators, a Harlem church and Penn Station.

Themes the author says he pursued

Giridharadas wrote on the.ink that the book touches on themes including home, belonging, health and illness, security and fear, love, family and democracy, and said he wanted the book to help readers understand how the country currently functions and how it might move past its current divisions. He said the reporting process pushed him away from instant, reflexive reactions and toward curiosity, and that he hopes the book helps readers regain their own curiosity.

He also wrote that democracy depends on people seeing one another as individuals rather than as categories, since, in his framing, sharing a country means living alongside people one did not choose.

Background: a case that divided opinion

PBS NewsHour reported that the case split public reaction along political lines, with some Republicans describing Penny as having protected fellow passengers, while several prominent Democrats attended Neely's funeral. The outlet reported that the case intensified debate over urban crime, mental illness, homelessness and race, noting that Neely was Black and Penny is white.

The WSKG/WBUR article accompanying coverage of the book included a photograph from Penny's December 2024 court appearance showing protesters holding signs reading "Justice for Jordan Neely."