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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values SIGNED
by Robert M Pirsig
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0688002307
- ISBN 13
- 9780688002305
- Seller
-
St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc, 1974. Reprint, 15th edition. Hardcover. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 21.5 x 14.5 cm. Octavo. 418 pages. Black cloth in dust jacket. This copy SIGNED and inscribed by the author, Robert M. Pirsig, on the front endpaper. Reprint with the afterword dated 1984. Some creasing at top and bottom edges of dust jacket. A sharp copy of this fantastic work. Also included is a 16 page pamphlet written by Pirsig entitled "Zen in Minnesota". The pamhplet discusses the Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis as well as several brief essays on Zen Buddism. No publication date, circa ~1975 - 85. The pamphlet has some water damage which does not effect the readability of the text.
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."
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Details
- Bookseller
- Midway Used and Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 52283
- Title
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values SIGNED
- Author
- Robert M Pirsig
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- Reprint, 15th edition
- ISBN 10
- 0688002307
- ISBN 13
- 9780688002305
- Publisher
- William Morrow & Company, Inc
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1974
- Bookseller catalogs
- Philosophy;
Terms of Sale
Midway Used and Rare Books
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About the Seller
Midway Used and Rare Books
Biblio member since 2005
St. Paul, Minnesota
About Midway Used and Rare Books
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
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