Review of THE MANIAC

As brilliant and difficult as its subject, the book will change how you sit in the world.

If you know all about Johnny von Neumann, then I give you a “hall pass”. Maybe you should read something else. You must already know then that he is very likely the father of our present digital age, AI and all. He laid the foundations for quantum mechanics and invented game theory. Born into a privilege he never shed; Neumann was part of the shift shaping diaspora of Hungarian Jews between the wars. Einstein thought him the most brilliant man of his time. He built the computer that was required to make sure the H-bomb did not destroy the earth. The computer, aptly called, The Maniac, was the prototype for everyone made since. This is only the beginning … when

he died at 53, his room was filled with the entire United States defense leadership awaiting his last words. I did not believe his story until I looked it up. Without a doubt, the most influential man I have never heard of.

But all of this might not be the most important reason to read this very iconoclastic book that continues to wake me up at night. It is told through fictionalized remembrances of colleagues, ex-wives, a daughter, and assorted peers. The facts are true but the voices (a great Audible book btw) are the extraordinary creation of Labatut. The collective remembrances end two thirds of the way through the book. You are exhausted, exhilarated, and wiser. Johnny was a genius, an asshole, miserable and exuberant, arrogant but a great teacher. He loved Cadillacs and booze. No wonder Labatut used the format he did. It is the only way to capture a story and a man who broke all the boundaries.

As for the last third of the book … Johnny is dead but his legacy is “alive” and well. Read it. Things will not feel the same.

The Maniac

Benjamin Labatut

2023   368 pages