Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

by Mark Richardson

Book Overview

Part travelogue, part meditation on an author and his work, Zen and Now is a tribute to a beloved American book and the landscape that inspired it. Since it was first published in 1974, Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has become a modern classic, a beautifully constructed blend of travel narrative and philosophical inquiry that has moved generations of readers. One of those readers was journalistMarkRichardson, who after...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B004KG0CS0
• ISBN13: 9780307390691
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

I really enjoyed riding with Mark.

I enjoyed this book very much. I love Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM). As an avid motorcyclist and fan of the book, I too someday hope to take a trip similar to Mark's. I learned a lot about ZMM's author Rober Pirsig in Mark's book. But, what I enjoyed the most was learning about the lives of the different characters in ZMM such as the Sutherland's and the DeWeeses. It's a quick and interesting story. It left me wanting more.

Motorcycle travel with a twist of Zen

When I first read Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," I felt somewhat bewildered. I loved his passion, I loved the intensity of his relationships and his beliefs about life. And yet, I felt he was in over his head, trying to build sanity on shaky ground. He desperately tried to shore up that foundation with his ideas of quality, but if he succeeded in solidifying the foundation, I for one was never convinced. I was prepared to let "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" slide into my hazy past, when I recently came across a memoir, "Zen and Now" by Mark Richardson, which offered to give me a guided tour of the earlier book. I jumped at the chance. I'm glad I did. Now, after reading "Zen and Now," I feel vastly more understanding of Pirsig's book, and I had a lovely journey with Richardson at the same time. "Zen and Now" is also a motorcycle ride, following as closely as possible Pirsig's original route, woven with a fun, intricate, and entertaining mix of Richardson's own observations about life, motorcycles, small town American life, and a few other things. This interwoven structure is one of my favorite things about the book. Oh, one more thing. It was a sort of recounting of Richardson's own mid-life crisis, and in a clever twist, his angst mirrored the soul searching pressure that drove Pirsig to hit the road. The book turned out to be a splendid meditation on creativity and problem-solving, sanity and insanity.

Another 'quality' book...

I like the style very much, how it mirrors ZATAOMM. I found Richardson's journey and story to be equally compelling as Pirsigs. The author mixed these stories together in three threads: his journey across the country, Pirsig's original journey, and the biographical facts of Pirsig's life. I enjoyed all three. This book does not dwell on the philoshical part of ZATAOMM. That is ok. Any attempt to re-create or deeply evaluate Pirsig's concepts would likely pale in comparison. I still think that this book is excellent, and I recommend it. Mike

Sweet, well-written. Insightful

Saw the author speak at his first book event last night, purchased the book there, and stayed up all night reading it. Like many, I know now, I couldn't get through Zen and the Art.. during my first read as a teenager. I also didn't know the author was from St. Paul (where I live). This book gives great insight into Pirsig, but also into Richardson. It's so well written and, by it's very nature, compelling. I read to see what would happen next. Also very evocative of the landscape and people. And he has to be commended on his reporting skills, finding and interviewing all those people from Pirsig's past. I just finished a new Harper Lee biography. So I guess this is a new genre: respectful, compelling books about the lives of recluse authors...without help or guidance from those authors!