Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
by Pirsig, Robert M
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0688002307
- ISBN 13
- 9780688002305
- Seller
-
Palm Desert, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values was written in 1974 by Robert M. Pirsig, a commentary on the Metaphysics of Quality within a growing commercialized society. The work is a fictionalized autobiography narrating a 17-day motorcycle journey across the U.S. with his son, Chris, and his friends John and Sylvia Sutherland. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of science. The interactions of these romantic philosophically driven discussions are tied by the author, who refers to his past self as Phaedrus. Author Robert M. Pirsig, a teacher of creative and technical writing at a small college, became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality", which he understood similar to Tao. His philosophical inventions and investigations later left him mentally ill, forcing him to reconcile with his past during his trip. "Quality . . . you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is. But that's self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There's nothing to talk about. But if you can't say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn't exist at all. But for all practical purposes, it really does exist."
Read More: Identifying first editions of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
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Details
- Bookseller
- James Graham, Bookseller, ABAA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 8080
- Title
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
- Author
- Pirsig, Robert M
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- A First Edition, First Printing 1st Printing
- ISBN 10
- 0688002307
- ISBN 13
- 9780688002305
- Publisher
- William Morrow & Co
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1974
- Keywords
- jpg
Terms of Sale
James Graham, Bookseller, ABAA
About the Seller
James Graham, Bookseller, ABAA
About James Graham, Bookseller, ABAA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...