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Summary: Autobiography of an NT
Review: I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never -""You lie," he cried,
And ran on. --Stephen Crane
Rating: 
Summary: The worst book I have ever read. Dull as dishwater.
Review: This is by far the worst book I ever read...and I made myself read it from cover-to-cover in the forelorn belief that it would redeem itself near the end; it did not. Please do not buy this book -- if you feel tempted, get it from the library first to see if you like it. This book is famous for one reason and one reason only, in my humble opinion,.... it has a very unusual, catchy, interesting name. That's it. That's all it has. It is not really about Zen, or motorcycle maintenance (although both feature fleetingly). The new sub-title "an inquiry into values" is laughable marketing too. It is mainly the self-indulgent ramblings of a very dull, self absorbed person - probably on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The only thing I took away from this book was that I felt rather concerned for the author's son (on the assumption that this book is partially or fully auto-biographical). ...
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Summary: The nature of principles
Review: One might think the title of the book is contradictory or at best misleading for this book is not for technician repairing or riding motorcycle at all. But once closing final page, you should conclude that the title makes sense. The author¡¯s question is ¡®what is the reason or principle in relation to the life?¡¯ the law of nature or principles of the world, those are the one the science seeks to find. But those are abstract and empty in its nature. Zen is the method to transcend that abstractness to concreteness of life itself. Principles are abstracted from the rich context of concrete life. But once abstracted, we forget where it comes from. Zen asks us to find principle in the life by ourselves.
The author show the point of Zen in the form of novel. Motorcycle is the product of engineering and science. So it¡¯s the result of principle-seeking activities. But motorcycle could not be rid with just knowing scientific principles. Moreover, it doesn¡¯t need those knowledge at all. Just like riding motorcycle, living through everyday life doesn¡¯t need knowing abstract principles. Principles needed in life is concrete one put in practice. Zen is the method to find principle in practice.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read, classic
Review: This book is a must read. It definitely was ahead of its time when it was published, and based on the conscientiousness of those around me, it still feels ahead of its time...which is why I deem this a classic...it's the type of book you could read over and over again, and continue to feel new neuron connections forming in your brain every time...things seem to get prettier and prettier... This book I hold on to for my daughter and her future siblings...
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Summary: Worth Rereading Many Times
Review: I first read ZAMM as a sociology class assignment in 1979. I hated it! I wondered why a sociology professor would want us to read this book. I bought the book second-hand, paying $.95 for it. What a DEAL! I still have it, full of my notes from my first reading. In 1987, an interest in Zen caused me to pull the book off the shelf and reread it. I discovered something the second time around...this is a GREAT BOOK. The relationship between the narrator and his son Chris evolves into something wonderful. The author's search for his former identity (pre electro-convulsive shock treatment) is a mystery tale unfolding. And the quest for the meaning of Quality hits home for me in my search for that inner peace that comes from "caring." You've got to care. Quality is about caring. You can see it at the supermarket when a checker really "cares." Most of the time, however, you see the uncaring. Ask the checker how he/she is doing, the answer you get is likely, "I'll be doing great when I get off." There's no heart...there's no caring. And so, Quality of service suffers. ZAMM gives timeless tips on how to get the "caring" back into the things you do. My life has been greatly changed by following some of the tips. It became evident in a statement that came to mind a few months ago... "Work is a state of mind we engage in when we feel we have no other choice." We always have a choice. It's only work if you don't enjoy what you're doing. The choice is clear...either change what you're doing, or change how you feel about what you're doing. Peace of mind comes with caring about what you're doing. All "work", every job, in some way or fashion, makes the world a better place. Find meaning in that. Find out how what you do makes the world a better place, and dwell on that contribution, rather than the short-term goal of getting off work. By the way, I'm on my 12th rereading of ZAMM. And every time I read it, I gain some new little insight. Enjoy!
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Summary: Something Amiss in the Western Tradition
Review: As Steiner says in his review, "Zen and the Art Maintanence" takes on some the most important questions out there: 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? Although it is very rare these days, a good philosophy book should hit these hundred-dollar questions, and Pirsig does. I simply wonder how well he answered them. Although in respect I sense something missing from Pirsig's narrative, it would be difficult for me to give this book a negative review, because I gained so much from my first reading of it. And as with all other books that have affected my thought and character on some deep level, it is hard for me to dissavow their importance for very personal, perhaps subconsious and intuitive reasons. Certainly, the book played a formative roll in my intellectual development, but I am not so egotistical as to believe that this book should be required reading for everyone. I guess it just depends on who you are and what you are looking for. The book provides no coherent philosophy or specific guidence (if you don't believe me, read it), nor could I say that it enhanced my understanding of philosophy in general. As far as generes go, the book is a de facto autobiography -- and an interesting one at that. More than anything else, I think it opened me to the idea that something is amiss in the Western tradition. That is, it made me wonder if whether the entire logic of Western philosphical, scientific and social development is fundamentally flawed -- and from wonder, as both Aristotle and Plato say, all philosophy is born. Although it is not stated outright, I think Pirsig actually believes that Western Logic is what drove him to insanity in the early years and ultimately landed him in a hospital, on the receiving end of some rather intense electric shock therapy sessions. Ugh. Whether this is the case or not, the book got me thinking about my intellectual inheritance, and that alone makes it worth it's weight in gold. But it didn't answer the big questions. Are we alienated from the natural world? Is our traditional analytical tool defunct? In the end, Pirsig only gives us a fuzzy impression -- which isn't exactly Western of him, I must admit, but isn't exactly satisfying either. Perhaps David Suzuki and Holly Dressel's book, "From Naked Ape to Superspecies," was more to the point along these lines. Or maybe Kalle Lasn's new book, "Culture Jam," diagnosed the fundamental malaise and disconnection of Western life more vividly. Certainly, "Living Downstream" (a science book) woke me up to how the progress of Western chemical science has left us with a cancer bloom, allergies, asthma, and a host of other problems. For prescriptions and positive examples of the emergence of a new paradigm, read Lappe's book "Hope's Edge," or the newest from Suzuki and Dressel, "Good News." These books will show you how a new tradition (which is in fact nothing other than non-Western ways of thinking and acting in the world) is emerging: traditional farming practices, holistic philosophy, and much more. Whether you start with Pirsig, or anyone else, I suppose the only thing to remember is that it is not all about dollars and "sense" -- that is, it is not about money, wealth, power, conquest, nor the dissective linear-logic we inherited or take for granted (although we might need that too in getting out of this quadmire). It's about finding quality in your life, remaining open to new and flexible ways of approaching a problem, thinking in terms of relationships instead of wholes and parts, and -- most importantly -- finding the love. Humanity has a long way to go. You could do worse things than read Pirsig's book on this long journey to mental and social emancipation. But, then again, if you're in a rush and want to cut to the chase, perhaps you would do better reading some of the books I mentioned above. Choosing books... Could there be anything more difficult? Such a personal science.
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Summary: Defining the indefinable...
Review: There are only a handful of books that have really changed the way I've looked at things; Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird, Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, Julian Jayne's The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bi-Cameral Mind, Ludwig von Mises' Human Action and Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM). Pirsig's book may be the most profound because it not only challenges, but re-labels our entire thought process, challenging many of our most deeply held values. In fact, it's subtitled, (An Inquiry Into Values). Proof that I'm not alone in assessing the impact of ZAMM is the fact that it has remained in print for nearly three decades since it was first published in 1974. That's quite an achievement for a book with such a clunky title - a book whose first publisher warned Pirsig not to expect "much more" than the $5,000 advance because, "works of this kind rarely sell in volume" and whose author readily states up front that it "has little to do with the study of Zen and isn't all that accurate when it comes to motorcycle maintenance either." On the surface, ZAMM is a very simple story about the narrator's cross-country trip on motorcycle with his emotionally troubled son, Chris and their technologically challenged neighbors, John and Sylvia Sutherland. Pirsig wraps a brilliant philosophical analysis of values, in a road story that pits Phaedrus (the narrator's former self) against his current, post-electroshock persona, his son and the techno-phobic Sutherland's. The story unfolds as a series of talks or Chautauquas, in which the narrator explores such topics as "Classical (emphasis on underlying function) Vs Romantic (emphasis on external form)" styles of thinking, "defining quality" and "insanity as a rejection of the accepted mythos" (an idea previously explored by Thomas Szass). Ultimately, Pirsig does nothing less than re-focus the nature and definition of QUALITY. What is it? How do we define the "present" when everything we're conscious of has already happened, been processed and is already a part of the past? Phaedrus looks at quality and notes, "we all know it when we see it, but how is it truly defined? What makes one thing of greater or less "quality" then another?" He comes close to quantifying it in his "Church of Reason Lecture," which starts on page 142 of the original paperback release. Pirsig breaks the world down into two outlooks, Classic (which focuses on the underlying function) and Romantic (which focuses on the outer-lying form). Aesthetics (the study of beauty) is form based or Romantic thinking, while mechanics (the study of how things work) is function based or Classical thinking. He uses this to explain why different people see the same world in very different ways. In this journey he shows the difference between the two as the difference between the narrator's Classical outlook and that of the Sutherland's Romantic one. John and Sylvia both enjoy the look and feel of riding a motorcycle, but despise the mechanical chores of keeping it functioning at top proficiency. John is proud of his shiny, new and very expensive BMW motorcycle, but can't get into the daily maintenance of it. Phaedrus, on the other hand, is primarily attracted to and focused on the underlying form of the motorcycle. He is fascinated with how it works and what causes it to break down. Phaedrus is interested in the mechanics of the bike because he wants to minimize its weaknesses and maximize its effectiveness. The Sutherland's just want to ride, and to avoid at all costs the mechanics of the thing because that's what they're on vacation for - to get away from the mechanistic world. This Classic/Romantic split is important today because it explains all of our contemporary socio-political schisms so well. Emotional thinking is always Romantic, while pragmatic or logical thinking is always Classical. Both sides see only one true way of looking at things and both overlook an important part of the puzzle of life. It's why so many Leftists wear the "bleeding heart liberal" tag as a badge of honor. It feeds their emotionalism. Anything that sounds compassionate, feels good or "helps people," is, to their form based thinking, "good," and people who espouse self-reliance and individual responsibility are, in their view, "mean-spirited, Social Darwinists and well...evil" On the other hand, that's why economic Libertarians and social conservatives see "do-gooder liberals" as "grossly misguided dupes who care nothing for helping people help themselves and as well...evil." It's why, Romantic thinkers rarely use facts. They support their positions on what "feels right," or "fair." It's also why, when emotional Leftists are confronted with facts they don't like, they interpret the data as "angry" or "argumentative." This also explains why Classical thinking Libertarians and Romantic thinking Leftists don't communicate. Classicists deal in pragmatics and facts, while Romantics deal in feelings and appearances. What Pirsig does, is synthesize both Classical and Romantic components into a sort of "unified field theory" of living. He offers a vision of a complete whole - a fusion of logic and emotion, form and function. An ideal whole that we're still very far from. An ideal that cost his narrator, Phaedrus, dearly. Upon reaching Montana, the Sutherland's split and head south, while the narrator and his son head on toward Bozeman, the College town in which the narrator's former self (Phaedrus) taught. As they get closer to Bozeman, the pull of the narrator's former self (Phaedrus) grows stronger and he begins reliving some of the philosophical questions that had brought Phaedrus to the brink of emotional breakdown. The entire book becomes a journey of self-discovery in which the reader comes along for a ride. As the narrator gets in touch with the questions and pursuits of his former life, he realizes that, in order to connect with his son, Chris, he must first confront his former self (Phaedrus). Read it for yourself, it's truly a modern day masterpiece.
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Summary: An allegorical life tale. Fascinating.
Review: To be honest, this book's popularity amazes me. I first read it when it came out in 1974-I was 21 and in college-and, despite the fact I liked the book a lot I couldn't fathom how it ever became a mass market success. Here we are 28 years later and it's in the Top 1000 Amazon sellers. Amazing. Obviously, if you've read previous reviews, you realize this is a divisive book, seen as either revelatory or insipid. The book is heavily philosophical in tone, but at heart it's about finding your allegorical life device. (Had the book been written 20 years later, we'd have used the term paradigm.) For this character, it's motorcycle maintenance. That's not particularly profound, but then, really, not much in life is when you get right down to it. I think a big part of the problem is that people forget this is fiction Admittedly, it's heavily autobiographical and pretentious fiction, but fiction nonetheless. This isn't Bertrand Russell or Kant or Martin Heidegger writing an academic tract meant to profoundly influence the world of philosophical thought. Moreover, anyone who went to college must have somewhere along the line been exposed to a similar character-someone full of his own importance and questions and semi-educated the way undergrads are in philosophy, perpetually blowing his horn. The other thing that never seems to get mentioned that is, to me, a key element that underlies and drives this story is that early on we learn the man has just gotten out of the loony bin having been subjected to electroshock therapy. The man's brains have been artificially addled and he's trying to put things in some sort of order. An allegorical device makes a lot of sense in this context. On the whole this is an entertaining and thought provoking story-the way that, say, Ayn Rand wrote interesting, thought provoking, heavily allegorical yet somewhat unrealistic stories. If you approach the book in that light, I can't see how you can help by enjoy it.
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Summary: You'll either love it or hate it
Review: In grade 12, my English teacher was your quintessential eccentric. Students either loved him or hated him. He always said hate is closer to love than indifference, and given the choice he prefered to have students hate him than not care. Indifference, he said, is the enemy of education Before writing this review I browsed through all 218 existing reviews of this book, and noticed that people have intense views--one way or the other--for ZMM When I first read this (assigned by that same grade 12 teacher) I hated it. I was 17--what do you expect? I picked it up 7 years later and something about the book clicked for me; I couldn't put it down. It remains one of the most influential book of my life There's a lot of criticism of Pirsig in these reviews--he's a bad parent; he doesn't know anything about real philosophy; he talks too much about philosophy; he's a hippie--and on it goes. Some complain that the book ignores "real" philosophical values, or that it doesn't really talk about how to fix a motorcycle. "Real" zen practitioners state Pirsig is not describing "real" zen. Maybe it's just me, but I believe in things like literature and music, the most important criteria for evaluation is whether or not you like it. Clearly there's a wide range of opinion on both sides here. If you're thinking of getting this book be prepared --you might loathe it. If ZMM is required reading for a course you're taking this is a virtual guarantee--I don't think this is a book that should be forced upon anyone. Remember, this book is a NOVEL--the author makes no claim he's writing a textbook on philosopy or that the facts in this story are 100% factual. If you're going to read it it expect to have strong feelings one way or the other. And if you do hate it, try to avoid personally attacking Pirsig --It is possible to hate a book without ascribing this fact to some deep flaw in the author just because you didn't happen to see the world his or her way. I'd like to think that intelligent debate allows people to disagree without having to get personal, but apparently some of the reviewers here need some counselling to get over the fact that they were assigned this book in university, or that they just didn't like it. Personally, I hate wrestling and Barbra Streisand movies and can't understand why anyone would want to watch either--but apparently people do. It's a wide world out there--with still more than one way of seeing things (I hope).
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Summary: Flight to New Reason
Review: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
First Published 1974, 25th Anniversary Edition published 1999 by Vantage / Random House
Review by Ian Glendinning, February 2002. ZATAOMM is a journey - at least four in fact - two real in the present, one historical narrative, and one metaphorical. The real-time is in fact some 30 years ago - immediately post-hippy era - the book having been published in 1974. The first journey is a cross-US Motorcycle buddy-ride - Easy Rider without the drug culture. The second is a man-and-boy mountain trek - a physical challenge to find themselves and define their relationship - Ex-hippy Walk in the Woods if you like. The third is Pirsig's historical, and painfully personal, autobiography as a student, a teacher, a husband and a father preceding the real-time narrative. Common people and locations link the first three stories, but the fourth, a philosophical argument is woven into all three. As an experience the book moves quickly - chopping between the various threads - dropping clues and hints at the past events and connections to be revealed later, but always leaving enough doubt and emotional confusion to press on. Whilst several threads do get resolved, with a real-life mix of surprise and anti-climax, several remain wonderfully open ended - no-doubt succeeding in provoking the thoughts Pirsig intended. Practically the motorcycle and its maintenance are archetypes for technology, and the qualities of these are metaphors for the philosophical "virtues". In fact the concept of quality and the ancient debate between rational (logical) and subjective (rhetorical) views of the world are truly the subject of the book. Like Sophie's World the entire book is a vehicle for a serious philosophy text, though unlike that particular best-seller, ZATAOMM provides a gripping and involving story. The emotive power arises from Pirsig's own credentials in philosophical academia as a student and teacher of rhetoric, coupled with the passion and frustration that jumps off the page and grabs the reader by the throat. No surprise to find that Pirsig's schizophrenic alter-ego, Phaedrus, hides a past brush with a mental institution. The frustration of the rational trap, leaving madness as the only apparent escape route is evocative of both Catch-22 and Cuckoo's Nest. For anyone with an interest in the big questions of life, this is a good read. For anyone concerned with making progress in the details of the underlying philosophical debate, it is a text worthy of serious research. Both will find that those threads with uncertain resolution, command at least one re-read. (Reviewers Note: I find myself identifying strongly with the central character, yet when first given this book on an MBA Organisational Behaviour reading list in 1988 I chose not to read it. Now, having read the 25th anniversary edition, I find myself moved by it and regretting that my main thesis did not benefit from it at the time. I am currently conducting research into knowledge modelling.)
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