Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy

Viktor E. Frankl

ISBN 10: 1433210428 ISBN 13: 9781433210426

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

[Read by Simon Vance]

Man's Search for Meaning is the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during the unspeakable horrors of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. 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. Through every waking moment of his ordeal, Frankl's training as a psychiatrist lent him a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival. As a result of these experiences, Dr. Frankl developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy. At the core of his theory is the belief that man's primary motivational force is his search for meaning. Frankl's assertion that ''the will to meaning'' is the basic motivation for human life has forever changed the way we understand our humanity in the face of suffering.

Frankl's riveting memoir was named one of the Ten Most Influential Books in America after a 1991 survey by the Library of Congress and Book of the Month Club. This revised and updated version includes a new postscript: ''The Case for a Tragic Optimism.''

About this title

About the Author:

Viktor E. Frankl developed the revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy, founded on the belief that humanity's primary motivational force is the search for meaning. One of the great psychotherapists of this century, he was head of the neurological department of the Vienna Polyclinic Hospital for twenty-five years and is the author of thirty-one works on philosophy, psychotherapy, and neurology, including the classic Man's Search For Meaning, which has sold over nine million copies around the world.

Review:

''An enduring work of survival literature'' --New York Times

''If you read but one book this year, Dr Frankl's book should be that one.'' --Los Angeles Times

''His works are essential reading for those who seek to understand the human condition.'' --UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

''A poignant testimony...a hymn to the phoenix rising in each of us who choose life before flight.'' --Brian Keenan, author of An Evil Cradling

''One of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It changed my life.'' --Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway and Embracing Uncertainty

''Perhaps the most significant thinking since Freud and Adler.'' --American Journal of Psychiatry

''Much like a first aid kit, this recording has the potential to save lives . . . This classic, carefully read by Simon Vance, is a vital aid to the troubled of all ages.'' --Library Journal

''A fascinating, sophisticated, and very human book . . . Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power.'' --Amazon.com, editorial review

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1433210428
• ISBN 13: 9781433210426
• Binding: Audio CD