The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart’s New York

This sterling true crime account from Edgar winner Green (Last Call) plunges readers into the gritty landscape of 1980s New York City. Against that backdrop, Green introduces Michael Stewart, a 25-year-old Black artist who was fatally beaten by Transit Authority officers at a subway station in lower Manhattan in the fall of 1983. The officers claimed Stewart was visibly drunk or high and tagging the subway walls, but witnesses—including a young Rob Zombie—and certain details, including the officers’ assertion that the scrawny Stewart knocked them to the ground, cast doubt on their version of events. Soon, the case became a rallying cry for those pushing back against the NYPD’s brutal treatment of Black New Yorkers. Balancing propulsive pacing, careful research, and shrewd cultural analysis, Green convincingly highlights the failures of justice that led to Stewart’s death, and examines the impact of the case on the work of artists including Toni Morrison (who drew from the Stewart case for her play, Dreaming Emmett) and Spike Lee. It’s a harrowing look at a forgotten tragedy. Agent: David Patterson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Mar.)