Man in the Mirror
Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City
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Man in the Mirror
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About this listen
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 characters: 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.
Critic Reviews
"Anand Giridharadas has done it again—making us think in new ways about the ever-sharper divisions of modern America. Man in the Mirror is a tour de force of sharp-eyed reporting, powerful narrative, and heartbreaking tragedy. Its cast of characters are riveting, their stories compelling, and the moral impact of what happened to them as inescapable as are the tangled, troublesome times in which we now live. Brilliant and spellbinding."
—Robert B. Reich, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Coming Up Short
“Man in the Mirror is a gripping American tragedy—a profoundly human story of systemic failures, unequal judicial access, and the complexity of mental health care and individual choice. Anand Giridharadas captures how when rugged individualism, neoliberalism, and populism collide, people struggle to see each other until it is too late. Giridharadas is a powerful and compassionate writer of extraordinary conviction. This is a tremendous achievement.”
—Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a National Book Award Finalist
“In Man in the Mirror, Anand Giridharadas traces a legal battle that set safety and order for the majority against protection and care for the neediest. He writes with sympathy for both sides, recognizing despair among the advantaged and the powerless. This book’s moral complexity feels especially urgent as polarization threatens to undermine territory far beyond Giridharadas’ central narrative. This is a brave volume, profoundly researched, beautifully written, moving, and deeply felt.”
—Andrew Solomon, New York Times bestselling author of Far and Away and Noonday Demon, a National Book Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize Finalist
“Like the very finest works of narrative nonfiction, Man in the Mirror is both riveting and deeply moving. Anand Giridharadas was on the ground from the very first days after the death of Jordan Neely and tirelessly and empathically followed the sprawling cast of characters involved through the verdict and its aftermath. In his deft hands, the tragic collision of an ex-Marine and a mentally ill homeless man on an uptown F train becomes a profound, lyrical meditation on the chasms dividing not only New York but all of America. It's hard to imagine a more timely book, or a more timeless one.”
—Jonathan Mahler, bestselling author of The Gods of New York
—Robert B. Reich, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Coming Up Short
“Man in the Mirror is a gripping American tragedy—a profoundly human story of systemic failures, unequal judicial access, and the complexity of mental health care and individual choice. Anand Giridharadas captures how when rugged individualism, neoliberalism, and populism collide, people struggle to see each other until it is too late. Giridharadas is a powerful and compassionate writer of extraordinary conviction. This is a tremendous achievement.”
—Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a National Book Award Finalist
“In Man in the Mirror, Anand Giridharadas traces a legal battle that set safety and order for the majority against protection and care for the neediest. He writes with sympathy for both sides, recognizing despair among the advantaged and the powerless. This book’s moral complexity feels especially urgent as polarization threatens to undermine territory far beyond Giridharadas’ central narrative. This is a brave volume, profoundly researched, beautifully written, moving, and deeply felt.”
—Andrew Solomon, New York Times bestselling author of Far and Away and Noonday Demon, a National Book Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize Finalist
“Like the very finest works of narrative nonfiction, Man in the Mirror is both riveting and deeply moving. Anand Giridharadas was on the ground from the very first days after the death of Jordan Neely and tirelessly and empathically followed the sprawling cast of characters involved through the verdict and its aftermath. In his deft hands, the tragic collision of an ex-Marine and a mentally ill homeless man on an uptown F train becomes a profound, lyrical meditation on the chasms dividing not only New York but all of America. It's hard to imagine a more timely book, or a more timeless one.”
—Jonathan Mahler, bestselling author of The Gods of New York
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