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Man's Search for Meaning

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Front Cover
2641 Reviews
Beacon Press, Jun 1, 2006 - Psychology - 165 pages
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey by the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

Born in Vienna in 1905 Viktor E. Frankl earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. He published more than thirty books on theoretical and clinical psychology and served as a visiting professor and lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, and elsewhere. In 1977 a fellow survivor, Joseph Fabry, founded the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. Frankl died in 1997.

Harold S. Kushner is rabbi emeritus at Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, and the author of several best-selling books, including When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

William J. Winslade is a philosopher, lawyer, and psychoanalyst at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.
  

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His insight and advice are profound still today. - Goodreads
Intro to Logotherapy by way of concentration camp. - Goodreads
One of the most inspiring life stories ever! - Goodreads
Thus, the prose is highly disappointing. - Goodreads
I gave this book 4 stars for its educational value. - Goodreads
Frankl is a gifted writer and thinker. - Goodreads

Review: Man's Search for Meaning

User Review  - Casey - Goodreads

The first time I read this I skipped the ending about logothereapy. Huge mistake. I love that section now. Read full review

Review: Man's Search for Meaning

User Review  - Nancy - Goodreads

Loved the first part, got a little lost in the middle and found it very boring so i put it down for a couple months, then loved the last part but had to read by myself where I could really focus! Very interesting read. Read full review

All 2641 reviews »

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Contents

FOREWORD
PREFACE TOTHE 1992 EDITION
I
EXPERIENCES IN ACONCENTRATION CAMP
II
LOGOTHERAPYIN A NUTSHELL
POSTSCRIPT1984
THE CASE FOR ATRAGIC OPTIMISM
AFTERWORD
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Viktor E. Frankl was a man who persevered in living, writing, and helping people, despite suffering for years at the hands of the Nazis. He was born in Vienna on March 26, 1905, and received his doctorate of medicine in 1930. As a psychiatrist, he supervised a ward of suicidal female patients, and later became chief of the neurological department at Rothschild Hospital in Vienna. Frankl's successful career was halted temporarily in 1942 when he was deported to a Nazi concentration camp. In Auschwitz and other camps, he witnessed and experienced daily horrors until 1945. Although he survived, his parents and many other family members did not. Returning to Vienna in 1945, he resumed his work, becoming head physician of the neurological department at the Vienna Polyclinic Hospital. Frankl wrote more than 30 books, the most famous being Man's Search For Meaning. As a professor, he taught at many American universities, including Harvard and Stanford. He is credited with the development of logotherapy, a new style of psychotherapy. He died in Vienna in 1997.

Harold S. Kushner is the author of several bestselling books on coping with life's challenges. He has been honored by the Christophers as one of the fifty people who have made the world a better place. He is Rabbi Laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts.

Winslade is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Houston Health Law and Policy Institute

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