ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

An inquiry into values

by ROBERT M PIRSIG

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New softcover book. 540 pages, published 2006.

This lyrical, evocative, thought-provoking journal of a man's quest for truth - and for himself - has touched and changed an entire generation. At its heart, the story is all too simple: a man and his son take a lengthy motorcycle trip through America. But this is not a simple trip at all, for around every corner, through mountain and desert, wind and rain, and searing heat and biting cold, their pilgrimage leads them to new vistas of self-discovery and renewal.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an elemental work that had helped to shape and define the past twenty-five years of American culture. First-time readers will discover for the wonders and challenges of a journey that will change the way they think and feel about their lives, and millions who have already taken this journey will want to travel these roads again.

Arguably one of the most profoundly important essays ever written on the nature and significance of "quality" and definitely a necessary anodyne to the consequences of a modern world pathologically obsessed with quantity. Although set as a story of a cross-country trip on a motorcycle by a father and son, it is more nearly a journey through 2,000 years of Western philosophy. For some people, this has been a truly life-changing book.

First published in 1974, this book describes, in first person, a 17-day motorcycle journey across the United States by the author (though he is not identified in the book) and his son Chris, joined for nine days by John and Sylvia Sutherland, a befriended couple. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions (many of them on epistemology and the philosophy of science) which the author refers to as chautauquas.

The book sold millions of copies in twenty-seven languages and was described by the press as "the most widely read philosophy book, ever" despite being rejected by 121 publishers, more than any other bestselling book, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

The title is an incongruous play on the title of the book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. In its introduction, Pirsig explains that, despite its title, "it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either."

About the Author

Robert Maynard Pirsig was born on September 6, 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is an American writer and philosopher, mainly known as the author of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974), which has sold millions of copies around the world. He studied chemistry and philosophy (B.A., 1950) and journalism (M.A., 1953) at the University of Minnesota and also attended Benares Hindu University in India where he studied Oriental philosophy. He is also the author of a sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, titled Lila: An Inquiry into Morals which was published in 1991.

In 1979, Pirsig's son Chris - who had played an important role in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - was stabbed to death during a mugging outside the San Francisco Zen Center. Pirsig discusses this incident in an afterword to subsequent editions of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, writing that he and his second spouse, Kimball, decided not to abort the child she conceived in 1980, because he had come to believe that this unborn child was a continuation of the life pattern that Chris had occupied. This child is Pirsig's daughter, Nell. Pirsig avoids the public eye. He travels around the Atlantic by boat, and has resided in Norway, Sweden, Belgium, England, and in various places around the U.S.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M Pirsig