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Rotterdam, 1980

Benjamín Labatut

Benjamín Labatut is a Chilean writer and journalist born in Rotterdam in 1980; he grew up between The Hague, Buenos Aires and Lima and settled in Santiago, Chile, at fourteen. His books sit between storytelling and essay, mixing real episodes from twentieth-century science with fiction. He is best known for When We Cease to Understand the World (2020) and The MANIAC (2023), his novel about John von Neumann.

Where to start with Benjamín Labatut

Their books on Pecia, in the order we'd read them.

  1. Un verdor terribleabout 6 hoursThe book that made his name abroad and the best way in: stories of chemists, mathematicians and physicists where fact and invention blend.
  2. MANIACabout 9 hoursIt follows the same path through one figure, John von Neumann, up to artificial intelligence; best read after When We Cease to Understand the World.
  3. La piedra de la locuraabout 2 hoursTwo short essays on madness and chaos; here he speaks in his own voice, without fiction, and it lands better once you know his narrative books.
  4. La Antártica empieza aquíabout 4 hoursHis first book, stories revised for this reissue; it shows him before his turn to science, for readers curious about where he started.

Benjamín Labatut's books, second-hand

4 books with used copies for sale. On average, 13% below the cover price. Prices from 6 October 2026.

La piedra de la locuraBenjamín Labatutfrom €9.12 −16%
Un verdor terribleBenjamín Labatutfrom €11.22 −41%
MANIACBenjamín Labatut★ 4.8from €16.27 −26%La Antártica empieza aquíBenjamín Labatutfrom €24.90

What critics say

When We Cease to Understand the World was shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker, was translated into 22 languages and in 2024 made The New York Times list of the 100 best books of the century; John Banville praised it in The Guardian, while Ruth Franklin, in The New Yorker, found something troubling in erasing the line between fact and fiction. The MANIAC drew mostly positive reviews.

If you like Benjamín Labatut

What the reading guides of their books suggest.

Written with AI help from Wikipedia and Pecia's reading guides, and reviewed by a person. Biographical facts from Wikidata. Wikipedia (es) · Wikipedia (en)