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

You might gain a little more insight studying Taoism first and seeing the "nonsense". There is incredible beauty to be found in being unable to understand something. The illusion that there is only subjective reality and objective reality is swallowed by the fact that reality has more context than words can manage to bottle. You can try to bottle the ocean but you'll only ever grasp a portion and this book did a lot to help me understand what it means to not understand. I have been writing a theory for so many months now and all the pieces aligned perfectly when I read this. It finally helped me piece together those last little fragments that included me and - it would be no exaggeration to say this book changed my life. I would have done nearly anything to have met the man who wrote it and I quite literally broke into tears learning he'd passed. God bless you and thank you for helping me reach outside myself. You were a treasure that helped expand the horizon of the worldview.

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.

very inspiring! I'm scared to death of climbing on a motorcycle, but this book makes me want to try. his trip across country reveals many hidden jewels that can be applied to everyday life. I've read the hardcopy three times, and I'm going to read it again. it's just an outstanding story and a uniquely way of looking at life.

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.