A Study Guide For Robert Pirsigs Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

When Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was first published in 1974, it caused a literary sensation. An entire generation was profoundly affected by the story of the narrator, his son, Chris, and their month-long motorcycle odyssey from Minnesota to California. A combination of philosophical speculation and psychological tension, the book is a complex story of relationships, values, madness, and, eventually, enlightenment. Ron Di Santo and Tom Steele have spent years investigating the background and underlying symbolism of Pirsig’s work. Together, and with the approval of Robert Pirsig, they have written a fascinating reference/companion to the original. Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance serves as a metaphorical backpack of supplies for the reader’s journey through the original work. With the background material, insights, and perspectives the authors provide, Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is destined to become required reading for new fans of the book as well as those who have returned to it over the years.

A Study Guide for Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

In this bestselling new book, his first in seventeen years, Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, takes us on a poignant and passionate journey as mysterious and compelling as his first life-changing work. Instead of a motorcycle, a sailboat carries his philosopher-narrator Phaedrus down the Hudson River as winter closes in. Along the way he picks up a most unlikely traveling companion: a woman named Lila who in her desperate sexuality, hostility, and oncoming madness threatens to disrupt his life. In Lila Robert M. Pirsig has crafted a unique work of adventure and ideas that examines the essential issues of the nineties as his previous classic did the seventies.

An Inquiry Into Values. You may be asking yourself, “What do Zen and motorcycle maintenance have in common?” Well, you’d be surprised! While Zen typically deals with meditative and spiritual practices, motorcycle maintenance deals with nuts, bolts, and greasy parts. However, if you want to live a balanced life, you’ll need to embrace both. Motorcycle maintenance describes those who are classically minded, those who enjoy science and look at the world more rationally. On the other hand, Zen describes those who think romantically, those who enjoy the arts and experience the world through emotions. They see the world as a whole while ignoring the details. You may find that you already identify yourself as one or the other, right? According to Pirsig, however, balance and quality come from balancing the two mindsets. In fact, many problems and conflicts arise when classically minded people can’t understand the romantic mode of thought and vice versa. So how can we combine the two and learn from one another? Well, you can begin by following Pirsig on a motorcycle as he tells the story of how a single road trip led to enlightenment. As you read, you’ll learn why romantics avoid fixing things, you’ll become introduced to Phaedrus and his search for Quality, and how Quality can lead to a balanced, harmonious life. Do you want more free book summaries like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. DISCLAIMER: This book summary is meant as a preview and not a replacement for the original work. If you like this summary please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book on QuickRead and want us to remove it, please contact us at [email protected].

On the Trail of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Zen and Now is the story of a story that will appeal to the 5 million readers of the original and serve as an initiation to a whole new generation. Since its original publication in 1968, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values has touched whole generations of readers with its serious attempt to define “quality” in a world that seems indifferent to the responsibilities that quality brings. Mark Richardson expands that journey with an investigation of his own – to find the enigmatic author of Zen and the Art, ask him a few questions, and place his classic book in context. The result manages to be a biography of Pirsig himself – in the discovery of an unknown life of madness, murder and eventual resolution – and a splendid meditation on creativity and problem-solving, sanity and insanity.

SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality study guides for challenging works of literature. This 59-page guide for "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 32 chapters, as well as several more in-depth sections of expert-written literary analysis. Featured content includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay topics, and key themes like Classic vs. Romantic and Duality.

Tells a story of the narrator, his son Chris and their month-long motorcycle odyssey from Minnesota to California profoundly affected an entire generation.

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Robert M. Pirsig’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Cast of characters Themes and symbols Important quotes Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is three books in one, including the author’s account of a transcontinental journey, his struggle to reconcile both halves of an identity fragmented by his own mental illness, and a rumination on Eastern versus Western philosophy. Now, more than forty years since its original release, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has become a modern classic—the kind of book that challenges readers to step outside of their everyday thoughts and consider some of life’s most profound questions through the entertaining lens of a father-son trip. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.