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Summary: Great book....BUT not for everyone!
Review: If you have had experience with Typology and/or Myers-Briggs, read on... In Typology, one set of dichotomy is between Sensing and Intuitive. People who prefer Sensing focus on what is real and actual. They are present oriented; trust experience and value practical appplications. They observe and remember "sense" data and details. People who prefer Intuition focus on the abstract and theoretical. They are future focused, value their imagination over experience. They see patterns and meanings in facts and trust their insight. If you have a preference towards Intuition, as outlined above, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. If you have a preference towards Sensing, you will be wondering how anyone could enjoy such drivel. I have a preference towards Intuition. This has been the most thought provoking book I've ever read. My conculsion: the majority of our senior business managers and politicans have a strong preference towards Sensing. Another dichotomy in Typology revolves around "How you process data and make decisions". Thinking and Feeling are the spectrum ends. If you've read this book the spectrum ends would be called Classical and Romantic. I've used this in presentations to Accountants and have them think about Ebeneezer Scrooge--the most famous accountant of all times. He was Thinking/Classical based prior to the visitation of the spirits and Feeling/Romantic after. Again for me a great read--I've highlighted the chataquay(?) portions so I can go straight to the meat next time.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but Shallow
Review: This is an interesting book for a variety of reasons, but like a lot of '60's/70's philosophical classics it's more of a starter book for the intellectually uninitiated than an important work in its own right. It's neither well structured nor well written, and its philosophical insights are more deeply felt than deeply thought. Pirsig takes a cross-country motorcycle trip with his young son, to whom he has been having some trouble relating. As the trip progresses he meditates on the subject of quality, of workmanship but also of life, as well as technology, science, and the scientific method. About a quarter of the way through this intellectual ramble Pirsig suddenly comes to grips with a mental breakdown he had had not long before, and begins a quest for his own identity. Unhappily he decides he was a misunderstood genius, names his pre-breakdown self 'Phaedrus' and rambles into a tendentious complaint about academia as he relates his earlier life. Eventually the narrative returns to conclude the motorcycle trip and at least cast together some of the conceptual loose ends. Pirsig must have been insufferable after the success of this novel; as the narrator he is pompous and self obsessed, struggling with a massive inferiority complex. He is given to sweeping pronunciamentos and overblown metaphors, but at the same time there is an engaging sincerity about his many plaints, and his ideas are thought-provoking (if you have never run across them before.) Worth trying - but don't feel badly if it's not for you!
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Summary: A thought twister and a explosion of inspiration
Review: I am 19 and attend a major university where I drink and sleep in through all the morning hours. This book cleared my cloudy mind and made me realize that I had stopped thinking - stopped questioning. It renewed my lust for knowledge and appreciation of the human mind. I still drink and sleep through the morning hours but only half as much now.. .. the other half I spend with a book in my face.
Rating:
Summary: A distressing and uplifting explotration into the my psyche.
Review: Find yourself and lose yourself in this work. Complicate simple ideas, and deconstruct complex thoughts to the core elements of modern thinking. This book will teach everyone who reads it something, and open door ways to ideas you never thought you'd have. A bible.
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Summary: The most important read of your life
Review: I have read this book at least once a year since 1980. As a teacher, I find its message the most valuable I've ever encountered. As a father, I find its message the most powerful account I've read. This book, as well as Lila, really do have the answers for those of us searching. I enjoyed the added comments from Pirsig for the 25th anniversary.
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Summary: Don't loan it to a friend- you'll never get it back.
Review: I've had to buy 3 copies of this book. The first two were loaned to friends who never returned them. Yes, it's a great book. It's not about Zen or motorcycles. It is about quality, values, and relationships. I first read ZMM 18 years ago, at age 17. Since then, I've been impressed by 3 things about the book: 1)It's one of those books that you can pick up after not touching for 5 years, and end up spending hours rereading sections on a rainy afternoon. 2) It's one of those books that when you meet someone who also read & loved it, and then discuss it with them, it always seems that they got something different out of it than you did. 3) You can pick it up after not reading it for 10 years, re-read it, and it's as though you've just read a completely different book. Many reviewers here have stated that reading the book changed their lives. I read it at a pretty impressionable time, so I can't say as how my life would've been different if I hadn't read it. I do believe though that reading the book did teach me at least one absolute truth: There are two types of people in the world- people who love ZMM, and people who "just don't get it". If I'm ever marooned on an island with one other person, I pray it's one of the former.
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Summary: An excellent dig into the philosophy of philosophy.
Review: An excellent dig into the philosophy of philosophy. Zen has a great discussion of a man in search of the qualities of life, both classic and romantic.
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Summary: On Quality:
Review: The fact that more than 120 people have spent their time sitting at their computers and reviewing the 'good' and 'bad' of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance not only proves that the book's philosophical meandering about "Quality" - which eventually leads to several different points about the essence of experience and life itself is fairly right-on, but that, as in the book itself, Quality is dictated (when intellectually reviewed) by a person's background and preconceptions. This unique viewpoint as well as the grace with which it is reached (motorcycle trips, mountain hikes...et cetera) is enough to make it a worthwhile and brilliant read.
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Summary: A Book That Shaped who I am today!!!
Review: I read this book during my first year of college. And I could not believe what I was reading. This book is truly a masterpiece, and one which I recommend to all who want to read a good, thoughtful book. It also spurred me on to look at who I am as a person and determine where my interests were at the time. It is amazing how a book made me feel so free within the confinds of my dorm room. This book is worth reading if nothing else than to enjoy/experience a very different writing style and topic. ENJOY!
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Summary: Religion, Art, Science, and more!
Review: This book is definitely one of the most interesting I have ever read. It expands on many ideas and unifies areas (Religion, Art, and Science) that aren't commonly thought of as connected. Pirsig's talent and intelligence are quite amazing. These are definitely some important ideas. I highly recommend it! Enjoy!
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