Based on author Robert M. Pirsig’s actual experiences, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a story about Pirsig’s relationship with his eleven-year-old son as they take a motorcycle trip across America. The journey is an opportunity for them to rekindle their relationship in the wake of Pirsig’s recovery from intense depression. As they traverse the twists and turns of America’s highways, so too is the reader taken down a winding path of philosophical inquiry. The focus of Pirsig’s narration alternates between past and present as he recounts his lifetime of studying philosophy and his attempts to answer the question, "what is quality?"

Written in the mid-seventies during the initial rise of computer technology, this book also explores the difference between artistic and scientific visions of reality, and what that means to a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology. Through the lens of maintaining a motorcycle, Pirsig discusses knowledge, truth, reason, and how to seek out what is "good."

This bestseller is rich with a life’s worth of academic experience that will open your eyes to a completely new world of understanding. The combination of fiction, autobiography, and philosophy creates a powerful and thought-provoking memoir that has continued to inspire people almost fifty years after its original release. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance will take you on an unforgettable journey through the far reaches of your own mind and will remind you about what it means to live well.

Review by: Cameron

Cameron is a sophomore at Geffen Academy at UCLA.

—Ruth Chung, Young Adult Librarian, Westwood Branch Library