ZEN and the ART of MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
An Inquiry into Values
By Robert M. Pirsig
First Edition, First Printing
William Morrow & Co.
New York, 1974
412 Pages
Synopsis
“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called ‘yourself’”
The book is a fictionalized autobiography of a 17-day journey that Pirsig made with his Honda CB77 motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California along with his son Chris in 1968. The story of this journey is recounted in a first-person narrative, although the author is not identified. Father and son are also accompanied, for the first nine days of the journey, by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland, with whom they part ways in Montana.
The journey is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of science.
Many of these discussions are accompanied by information concerning the narrator's own past self, who is referred to in the third person as Phaedrus (after Plato's dialogue). Phaedrus, a teacher of creative and technical writing at Montana State College, became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality", which he understands similar to Tao. Phaedrus's philosophical investigations eventually caused him to become insane, and he was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy, which permanently changed his personality.
Towards the end of the book, Phaedrus's strong and unorthodox personality, presented as dangerous to the narrator, becomes more apparent and the narrator is reconciled with his past.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Condition
Last Name of Previous Owner on Front Flyleaf
Cover & spine shows wear
Dust Jacket has several small tears
- Now Protected by Bodart Jacket
Overall Good Condition
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