Rating: 
Summary: easy thinker
Review: What a mess. Juvenile egomania with its occasional fervid appeal but overall Ayn Rand-ian laughability. The good points--most notably that the scientific method actually expands hypotheses rather than eliminates them (or creates them at a faster rate than it resolves them)--are buried amid macho-rebel gunk notable for a peculiar degree of lack of insight and self-awareness. Quasi-autobiographical road trip format is pure padding. Again, there are several strong points in here (though only a few are original) and I tend to agree with some of its anti-academic viewpoints, but ultimately this says more about maniacal egotism than anything else. Oddball helter-skeleter thinking communicated through many would-be guru-isms.--J.Ruch
Rating: 
Summary: Mu
Review: If I had to say something good or bad about it, I would say I missed the point. What is good, and what is bad? What is "Mu"? Read the book and find out for yourself the truths about yourself and the world that only you yourself could find out from reading the book.
Rating: 
Summary: my favorite book
Review: i didn't know that this was biography until i finished it; thought it was one of the best novels i'd ever read. chasing a ghost and talks on philosophy are juxtaposed. the ghost story is especially fascinating. what a shock to realize it had really happened! have not bothered to go over his beliefs with a fine tooth critical comb but that's ok with me. i enjoyed his insights and found it riveting to watch him trace his thinking back to its origins. i have reread this book over the years and it is still a favorite of mine.
Rating:
Summary: Great title, pity about the book.
Review: The amazing thing about this book is not that 121 publishers turned it down, but that no. 122 actually decided to publish it! A friend gave me a copy, with the exhortation that I 'HAD to read it'. I'd heard about it, of course, and its BIG reputation, so it was with eager anticipation that I settled down to do so.A week later... well, the most charitable thing I can say is that I managed to finish it. It had no effect whatsoever on me, absolutely ZILCH. It started off slowly, dragged its way through the middle and just fizzed at the end. (Newsweek talked about its 'shattering final pages'. Help! What was the reviewer ON!?) Now, obviously this book does a lot of things for a lot of people, so it must be me that there's something wrong with! The only thing it DID do was make me wonder why certain books receive universal acclaim, with nary a word of criticism spoken against them, and the answer's simple: king's new clothes syndrome (no doubt you'll be able to think of some others yourself). The most moving part of my copy (the 1984 edition) was the author's afterword, which touched a chord that the previous 373 pages never came near to doing. Perhaps if this had been a foreword, I'd have seen the text in a different light, in view of the personal tragedy which befell the author. Ignore all the hype. ZATAOMM is NOT a classic, and, please, school authorities everywhere, DON'T inflict it on unsuspecting students (you should be encouraging young people to ENJOY reading, not putting them off!).
Rating:
Summary: Elegant book about the Dynamic Quality of Life
Review: Robert's book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is more than a primer for beginning philosophy, psychology and zen students of life. It's not only a story of a Father and his son traveling from one state to another. Its about the difference between "static quality" and "dynamic quality." One may imagine learning about the better questions. It's not a book about motorcycle maintenance per say. It's about the history of philosophy and an inquiry into values. What is Quality? What is Philosophy? This is truly the great american novel. No big explosions or human killings, but a culture bearing book about the dynamic quality of life. I had an interesting experience with the author, 9 years ago. I sent him my graduate psychology paper on "Personality Psychology." He read inked most of my letters and my paper then sent it back to me. He said do a zen sesshin, and that my work was unfocused. I read his book around 5 times to try to find the meaning of what he said. Since then I'm just beginning to understand the difference between "classic quality or static quality" and "dynamic quality." This book will help you think upon things deeply. It's not for weary, it's for those who want to challenge themselves and their life with new philosophy and new paradigms.
Rating:
Summary: This is a work of true genius.
Review: The book is difficult to follow over the first few chapters, but don't be put off. This is the ultimate search of a man to find himself, with the most delightful results. Read it!!!
Rating:
Summary: Learning about your dual personality!
Review: He's Robert and Phaedrus. Learn about your dual personas. Learn about the distinctions between Dynamic Quality and Static Quality. Not a book for repair people but for design engineers, for people who want to philosophize about life! It's about Love; familial love! It's about adventures in psychology and philosophy. It's about the Journey. You'll enjoy Lila as well! Into to Philosophy. Learn how to live dynamically, now! It's a story about a man, his motorcycle and his son and their journey to spirit!
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of discovery and of opening the mind!
Review: Zen & The Art touches life in the place that most people do not often question. To say what the book is about attempts to capture it within a sphere that is far too rigid for its nature. Superficially, a journey takes place with the reader travelling across America on a motorcycle on a vacation. Inherently, it provides a medium for questioning the nature of our experience. A place to allows us to look at a topic or object for what it is and now simply what our minds make it. Will you find what you are seeking? It is probably best to go in unencumbered of hopes and dreams of expectation. The search becomes am much a part life as the answer that has been looked for. I have read this many times and have found it incredible beautiful at many different phases of my life. With the power of a jackhammer to open our closed minds, this book is a must read for all!
Rating:
Summary: A landmark on the road of human thought.
Review: The scope of this book is amazing, from Aristotle to Tao to 'gumption'. What emerges is the possibility of a idea that could unite us all.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is Famous for Being Famous
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I respect. For this reason I read all the way to the end feeling all the way like I was flogging a dead philosophy. There were a few illuminating moments, but very few and not enough to justify the rapturous treatment given to it by my friend and other reviewers. Obviously, the rapturous readers are getting something from the book of value and that is great. Now you've had just a hint of the real thing, you'll be blown away when you start reading books written by those with a more masterful approach. For those interested in the philosophy of science touched on by Mr Pirsig try "The Matter Myth" by physicist Paul Davies, just in case you thought all scientists were beholden to logical positivism or naive scientism. Try "Marriage of Sense and Sensibility" by Ken Wilber if you want to see the world only marginally hinted at by Mr Pirsig with his concept of Quality. And never trust authors who seek authority for their pet ideas by Capitalising!
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