Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Robert M. Pirsig

Apr 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

THE CLASSIC BOOK THAT HAS INSPIRED MILLIONS

A penetrating examination of how we live and how to live better

Few books transform a generation and then establish themselves as touchstones for the generations that follow. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one such book. This modern epic of a man’s search for meaning became an instant bestseller on publication in 1974, acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters. It continues to inspire millions. 

A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.

This new edition contains an interview with Pirsig and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be.

Ratings and reviews

This book was in all ways surprising, and nothing you'd expect. It's not really about Zen. At least, don't read it expecting Buddhist wisdoms. It's a bit more about motorcycle maintenance than Zen, but again, you won't learn the technical details of bike repair. You will, however, learn how to fix a motorcycle, or a sink, or most anything really. how? Because you learn how to thing critically and work carefully, like a Buddhist practices meditation. This is a book about philosophy and the authors unpredictable journey through it. There's a whole lot to digest, and I definitely couldn't take it all in. But I enjoyed the perspectives and the underlying naritive is interesting and unusual. I was especially surprised and pleased by the ending. It was a long, sometimes challenging read, so I doubt I'll pick it up again, but I'm glad I finished it.

Zen my ass. I thought the author was too self absorbed with and within himself. Another narcissist thinking he has cornered enlightenment. Long and boring by present standards. Don't waste your existence on this book.

It was just ok for me. It didn't quite make sense to me. The reading didn't flow very naturally. Perhaps it is purposefully confusing at times. Had some nice messages and nice imagery, but seemed long winded and to go on tangents. I didn't quite get the message. I didn't quite learn much about philosophy. Perhaps this isn't a good starter philosophy book. I felt like I was reading the entire time through a heavy fog of what was actually going on.

About the author

Robert M. Pirsig (1928–2017) is the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which has sold more than five-million copies since its publication in 1974, and Lila, a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He graduated from the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1950; M.A., 1958) and attended Benares Hindu University in India, where he studied Eastern philosophy, and the University of Chicago, where he pursued a PhD in philosophy. Pirsig’s motorcycle resides in the Smithsonian Institution.