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

Join us as we continue our online book club discussion of the classic 1974 instant bestseller, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, by Robert M Pirsig.

Assigned reading for this week: Chapters 18 - 24. Please note: Completion of the assigned reading is a prerequisite for attending. If you did not have the chance to do the reading, please join us another time.

What's this book about?
Few books transform a generation and then establish themselves as touchstones for the generations that follow. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one such book. This modern epic of a man’s search for meaning became an instant bestseller on publication in 1974, acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters. It continues to inspire millions.

A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on 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, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.

About the author.
Robert M. Pirsig (1928 - 2017) was a philosopher and the author of two philosophical books, including Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and co-author of another. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974 and was vice-president and served on the board of directors of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. Prior to writing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig had mental health challenges due to schizophrenia. His son, Chris, who is prominently featured in the book, was fatally stabbed during a mugging outside the San Francisco Zen Center at the age of 22 (in 1979, five years after the book was published).

How this book club works.
Our book discussion will be spread out over several consecutive weeks, with two-hour meetings every Tuesday evening. This gives us time to explore the readings with the depth and care they deserve. Please bring your own thought-provoking questions and insights from the reading to share with the group. We like lively discussions that challenge our own ideas and allow us to learn from each other -- while enjoying camaraderie! All we ask is that everyone be treated as co-equals, both in respect and approximate speaking time. Feel free to post (in the Comments below) any additional resources you find -- including ones that challenge the author. We hope to see you at our Tuesday meetings!