Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Profoundly important...full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas....It is an intellectual entertainment of the highest order." The New York Times
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"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
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"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
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"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
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"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
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"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
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"From its title...to its shattering final pages, Robert Pirsig's book is extraordinary." Walter Clemons, Newsweek
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“It is filled with beauty. . .a finely made whole that seems to emanate from a very special grace.” Baltimore Sun
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“The book is inspired, original. . . . The analogies with Moby-Dick are patent.” The New Yorker
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“An unforgettable trip.” Time
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“A miracle . . . sparkles like an electric dream.” The Village Voice
Synopsis
A penetrating examination of how we live and how to live better
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.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
One of the most 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.
--The Village Voice
About the Author
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.