Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Mark Richardson

In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that would become the inspiration for Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance– a blend of personal narrative and philosophical investigation. Zen and Now is a vivid chronicle of a journalist’s heartfelt and determined journey to reconnect with a beloved American classic.

Among the millions of readers to fall under the book’s spell was Mark Richardson, who as a young man struggled to understand Pirsig’s provocative and elusive ideas. Rereading the book decades later, Richardson was moved by its portrayal of Pirsig’s complex relationship with Chris and struck by the timelessness of its lessons. So he tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a “Pirsig pilgrim,” one of the legions of fans who retrace the Pirsigs’ route from Minneapolis to San Francisco and revisited the people and places from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Praise for Zen and Now:

Classic re-examination of a classic book.

IAN NICHOLS, THE WEST WEEKEND MAGAZINE

 

Celebration of an iconic book.

BRUCE ELDER, THE AGE

Book details

PUBLICATION DATE: 2009
FORMAT: Paperback
EXTENT: 288 pages
SIZE: 235 x 155 mm
ISBN: 9781921401299
RIGHTS: Australia and New Zealand
CATEGORY: Out of Print,