With a new
Foreword by Harold S. Kushner
and a new
Biographical Afterword by William J. Winslade
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 others he treated later 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 for the Library
of Congress 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.
Beacon
Press, the original English-language publisher of Man's Search for Meaning, is
issuing this new paperback edition with a new Foreword, biographical Afterword,
jacket, price, and classroom materials to reach new generations of readers.
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