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

by Robert M. Pirsig

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060839872
• ISBN13: 9780060839871
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Mariner Books Classics
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Waste of time

I had to read and discuss this book in my sociology class in Junior College. My remarks on the book did not sit well with the professor. I dropped the class. I don't understnd how this could be such a popular read.

I guess I'm the one person who hated it

I read this book after hearing rave reviews from family and friends. I found the narrator annoyingly self-absorbed and clueless. He ignored his young son, who was obviously just desperate for Dad's attention, until the end of the book. His essay on "quality" was meaningless to me. The only interesting part was his discussion of motorcycle mechanics.

Philosophical / Semiautobiographical Tract

Robert M. Pirsig's seminal work - "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - is absolutely phenomenal in the German language! "Zen und die Kunst ein Motorrad zu warten" is a truly great achievement; the technical language of true motorcycle maintenance and the philosophical passages are crystallized so beautifully in German.