Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

An Inquiry Into Values (P.S.)

No cover

Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (2005, Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

430 pages

English language

Published Aug. 2, 2005 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (1 review)

"The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself.'"One of the most important and influential books of 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 meditation on how to live better. The narrative of a father on a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest with his young son, it becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions. A true modern classic, it remains at once touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.

47 editions

not a good bedtime read

3 stars

This is the second time that I stop reading this book. I really enjoyed the journaling of the motorcycle trip, but that's only half of the story. After a day at work, sitting in bed, trying to wind down, the whole discussion about classicism vs romanticism and rational analysis, etc is just too dry and tiring to follow.