Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy autobiography and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration death camps for five years and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live while his parents, brother and pregnant wife perished. The second part of the book, called 'Logotherapy in a Nutshell' describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps.

Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life. Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. Therefore, Frankl's logotherapy is much more compatible with western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. 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. This is a fascinating, sophisticated and very human book. At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power.

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.

About the Author

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.

One of the most important books you will ever read.