“A scholarly and intriguing review of research and thought on finding meaningfulness in life. Laypeople and psychologists alike will find it a fascinating read. ”

—Contemporary Psychology


“Roy Baumeister writes conceptually exact, richly factual, and continuously delightful books on deep subjects, and this is his best.”

—Roger Brown, Ph.D.


“The topic is, of course, tremendous. We feel giddily nervous on even entertaining it, and so usually take it for granted or leave it to Monty Python. Fortunately, this volume has now arrived, bringing with it a far-reaching analysis of how life's meaning impinges on social life. It is rare to find such a broad array of intriguing and subtle hypotheses derived from a single theme, and even more rare to find such wide-ranging awareness of history and culture in contemporary social psychology.”

—Daniel M. Wegner, Ph.D.


“The book encourages the reader to struggle with hard questions that have no objective answers.”

—Jerry Bruce, Sam Houston State, Huntsville, Texas