Who Wrote Man's Search for Meaning, When, and How Many Pages Is It?
Viktor E. Frankl wrote the book in German as <i>Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager</i> (A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp). It was published in Vienna in 1946. The English edition most readers know is about 165 pages in the standard Beacon Press paperback.
Frankl is reported to have written it in just nine days.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Viktor E. Frankl (Austrian psychiatrist) |
| German original | 1946, Verlag für Jugend und Volk, Vienna |
| First English edition | 1959, Beacon Press, as From Death-Camp to Existentialism |
| Current English title | Man's Search for Meaning (since 1962) |
| Length | About 165 pages in the Beacon paperback |
When and how was it written?
Frankl wrote the manuscript in about nine days after his liberation, in 1945, and first intended to publish it anonymously. It appeared in Vienna in 1946.
↑ Back to the topHow did it reach English readers?
Beacon Press published the first English edition in 1959 under the title From Death-Camp to Existentialism. The title was changed to Man's Search for Meaning in 1962. Ilse Lasch translated the camp section, and later editions added a 1984 postscript on tragic optimism.
↑ Back to the topHow many pages is it?
It is a short book. The standard Beacon Press paperback runs 165 pages, but other editions list anywhere from about 160 to over 220 pages depending on the typeface, the translation and added material. The text itself is quick to read, though the subject matter is heavy.
↑ Back to the topHow popular is it?
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997 the book had sold more than 10 million copies in 24 languages. By 2022 sales were reported at about 16 million copies in 52 languages. A 1991 survey for the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club named it among the ten most influential books in America.
↑ Back to the topMore about Man's Search for Meaning
This guide discusses a memoir of the Nazi concentration camps in general, non-graphic terms. Page counts vary by edition.