First published 2023
Benjamín Labatut's "The Maniac" plunges readers into the throes of a brilliant scientist's descent into madness. As he pushes the boundaries of scientific discovery, his obsession consumes him, blurring the line between genius and insanity. Trapped in a relentless pursuit of knowledge, he finds himself at the mercy of his own unraveling psyche, grappling with the consequences of his groundbreaking work. With visceral prose and a gripping narrative, Labatut crafts a chilling exploration of the fragility of the human mind and the price of uncovering the unknown.
Genres: fiction, psychological-thriller, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: descent-into-madness, unreliable-narrator
368 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press
Content warnings: mental-illness