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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values | 
| Author: Robert M. Pirsig
Publisher: HarperTorch
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.78
You Save: $4.21 (53%)
New (39) Used (33) Collectible (3) from $3.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  514 reviews
Sales Rank: 1364
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060589469
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.30492092
EAN: 9780060589462
ASIN: 0060589469
Publication Date: May 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: 100% Brand New! - Ships Today! Identical to Amazon's book in every way. Flawless! Not a cheap Remainder or Book Club Copy! *We recommend Expedited Shipping option for much faster mail delivery
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Arguably one of the most profoundly important essays ever written on the nature and significance of "quality" and definitely a necessary anodyne to the consequences of a modern world pathologically obsessed with quantity. Although set as a story of a cross-country trip on a motorcycle by a father and son, it is more nearly a journey through 2,000 years of Western philosophy. For some people, this has been a truly life-changing book.
Product Description
One of the most important and influential 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 509 more reviews...
 A Product of Its Times April 25, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I didn't read this book when it first came out to rave reviews. Something about all that enthusiasm with no substance behind it made me wary, and rightly so, it seems.
The narrator is a condescending, pompous egotist and I pity his son and his long-suffering friends who got dragged along into this anti-climactic non-dark non-heart of non-darkness.
Boring April 21, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was required to read this book for an ethics class in college. I did not enjoy it at all and found myself struggling to turn each successive page. Also, I did not find it to be particularly enlightening. I'm sure I fell asleep in the study hall several times trying to get through this barrage of boredom. Suggested alternate title: "Cures for Insomnia and other Musings".
 Right now I'd rate it a four, but I know... March 10, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
that in a couple years I'll rate it a five. I was first given this book by my uncle who was dying. Now, that probably made an impression. He gave me the book and I whizzed through it so that I could talk with him about it. We did. I found the book thought provoking and interesting at the time. Since returning to the book a couple of times since my original reading, I've found the book rewarding. There's so much more I wish I could talk to my uncle about concerning this book, but he's gone now. Ah well.
This book can be enjoyed on a couple levels. One, it's semi-biographical. There's also a sci-fi edge to it. Obviously, pretentious blow-hards cling to it for... well... obvious reasons. The ideas in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" are profound and hopefully you'll think about them for a bit.
"Lylia" (I think that's the name) is Zen's sequel. While it too has strong thought provoking segments, it is windy and not too interesting a story... unless you're into sailing I suppose. I'm not going to fault a person for passing it up, but if you have a chance to read "Zen and the Art..." and don't take it... well... that I can't understand.
Wonderful, Deep, and Rewarding March 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book in a way far greater than any book I have ever read before. This story makes you think and ponder questions just as the main character is doing. The story is told in the first person and you get a unique view into the mind of a man who is on the razor edge of genius and insanity.
I have read this book twice and enjoyed the second read even more than the first. Many insights into the nature of things (don't want to spoil anything for first-time readers).
There are many small scenes of perhaps half a page that still stick with me and help me understand the nature of people.
I am a better person for having read this and I thank the author for sticking with this book and getting it published where other mere mortals would have given up.
The author has his own trials and tribulations and mentions these after the end of the story.
I will spend many years, I fear, searching for another book as insightful and enjoyable as this book has been for me.
brilliant March 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
this book is amazing. some of the ideas are hard to agree with, although plenty of reason is given for each thought. although the philosophy is drawn out, it is far easier to understand- pirsig explains the thought proccess with which the philosophies arose, instead of just spouting off difficult and ludicrous sounding ideas.
do not go into this book expecting a novel. there is a plot, and a good one at that, but everything is encased in philosophy. it is all fascinating, even to a new comer in the area like me, but you simply cannot expect it to be a story you read straight through.
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