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

One of the most important and influential books written in the past half-century, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerful, moving, and penetrating examination of how we live . . . and a breathtaking meditation on how to live better. Here is the book that transformed a generation: an unforgettable narration of a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest, undertaken by a father and his young son. A story of love and fear -- of growth, discovery, and acceptance -- that becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions, this uniquely exhilarating modern classic is both touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence . . . and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.

"Profoundly important...full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas....It is an intellectual entertainment of the highest order." The New York Times

"This book should live a long life and go through many editions....Brave wanderings, high adventures, extraordinary risks....A horn of plenty." Los Angeles Times Calendar

"A moving tale of the modern soul, and a fine detective story of a man in search of himself. Beautifully, lucidly written, it offers a large challenge and an equal reward." Chicago Daily News

"An excellent, uncommon book – to be valued. It is filled with beauty, and with a stiff terror and doubt....On page after page there are small surprises of timing and grace." Baltimore Sun

"The book is inspired, original...the narrative tact, the perfect economy of effect defy criticism. The analogies with Moby Dick are patent. Robert Pirsig invites the prodigious comparison... What else can one say?" George Steiner, The New Yorker

"A miracle....sparkles like an electric dream. Freshness, originality...that seduces you into loving motorcycles, as tender in their pistons as the petals in the Buddha's dawn lotus." The Village Voice

"From its title...to its shattering final pages, Robert Pirsig's book is extraordinary." Walter Clemons, Newsweek

“The book is inspired, original. . . . The analogies with Moby-Dick are patent.” The New Yorker

“It is filled with beauty. . .a finely made whole that seems to emanate from a very special grace.” Baltimore Sun

“An unforgettable trip.” Time

“A miracle . . . sparkles like an electric dream.” The Village Voice

Robert M. Pirsig was born in 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He studied chemistry and philosophy (B.A., 1950) and journalism (M.A., 1958) at the University of Minnesota and also attended Benares Hindu University in India, where he studied Oriental philosophy. He is also the author of this book's sequel, entitled Lila.