Items related to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry...

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values - Hardcover

 
9780688002305: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, this modern epic became an instant bestseller upon publication in 1974, transforming a generation and continuing to inspire millions. This 25th Anniversary Quill Edition features a new introduction by the author; important typographical changes; and a Reader's Guide that includes discussion topics, an interview with the author, and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
In his now classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig brings us a literary chautauqua, a novel that is meant to both entertain and edify. It scores high on both counts.

Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tense cross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which the maintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we can unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become one with the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate all details--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tightening the chain on a motorcycle.

In his autobiographical first novel, Pirsig wrestles both with the ghost of his past and with the most important philosophical questions of the 20th century--why has technology alienated us from our world? what are the limits of rational analysis? if we can't define the good, how can we live it? Unfortunately, while exploring the defects of our philosophical heritage from Socrates and the Sophists to Hume and Kant, Pirsig inexplicably stops at the middle of the 19th century. With the exception of Poincaré, he ignores the more recent philosophers who have tackled his most urgent questions, thinkers such as Peirce, Nietzsche (to whom Phaedrus bears a passing resemblance), Heidegger, Whitehead, Dewey, Sartre, Wittgenstein, and Kuhn. In the end, the narrator's claims to originality turn out to be overstated, his reasoning questionable, and his understanding of the history of Western thought sketchy. His solution to a synthesis of the rational and creative by elevating Quality to a metaphysical level simply repeats the mistakes of the premodern philosophers. But in contrast to most other philosophers, Pirsig writes a compelling story. And he is a true innovator in his attempt to popularize a reconciliation of Eastern mindfulness and nonrationalism with Western subject/object dualism. The magic of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance turns out to lie not in the answers it gives, but in the questions it raises and the way it raises them. Like a cross between The Razor's Edge and Sophie's World, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance takes us into "the high country of the mind" and opens our eyes to vistas of possibility. --Brian Bruya

From the Publisher:
The extraordinary story of a man's quest for truth. It will change the way you think and feel about your life.

"The cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself.'"

"The study of the art of motorcycle maintainence is really a study of the art of rationality itself. Working on a motorcycle, working well, caring, is to become part of a process, to achieve an inner peace of mind. The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon." -- Robert M. Pirsig

"Profoundly important... full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas... It is intellectual entertainment of the highest order." -- The New York Times

"It lodges in the mind as few recent novels have... The book is inspired, original... As the mountains gentle toward the sea--with father and child locked in a ghostly grip--the narrative tact, the perfect economy of effect defy criticism... The analogies with Moby Dick are patent. Robert Pirsig invites the prodigious comparison... What more can one say?" -- The New Yorker

"It's a miracle.. sparkles like an electric dream. Freshness, originality... that seduces you into loving motorcycles, as tender in their pistons as the petals in the Buddah's dawn lotus." -- The Village Voice

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherMariner Books
  • Publication date1974
  • ISBN 10 0688002307
  • ISBN 13 9780688002305
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages412
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780060589462: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780060589462
Publisher: Mariner Books, 2006
Softcover

  • 9780060839871: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

    Marine..., 2005
    Softcover

  • 9780099786405: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Vintag..., 1991
    Softcover

  • 9780099598169: Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenanc

    VINTAGE, 2014
    Softcover

  • 9780061673733: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

    Marine..., 2008
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Pirsig Robert M
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 10
Seller:
Goodvibes Books
(Sugarland, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New Book. Seller Inventory # 0688002307-SBX

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.54
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0688002307

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.30
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by William Morrow (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780688002305

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 23.49
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by Harper Collins Publishers (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0688002307

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 19.79
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GridFreed
(North Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.)

Book Description hardcover. Condition: New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!. Seller Inventory # 100-32932

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 19.24
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.45
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Pirsig, Robert M.
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
BargainBookStores
(Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardback or Cased Book. Condition: New. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values 1.1. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780688002305

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.08
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by William Morrow (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lakeside Books
(Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780688002305

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.61
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Pirsig, Robert M.
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 408204-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 23.52
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0688002307

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.16
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Pirsig, Robert M
Published by Mariner Books (1974)
ISBN 10: 0688002307 ISBN 13: 9780688002305
New Hardcover Quantity: 19
Seller:
Lucky's Textbooks
(Dallas, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2416190099920

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 24.47
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book