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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

by Pirsig, Robert M

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Very Good
ISBN 10
0688002307
ISBN 13
9780688002305
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About This Item

William Morrow, 1974-05-01. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition first printing in price clipped jacket. Has gift note to flyleaf and soil to fore edge. Text unmarked. Please email for photos.

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
Griffin Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
96880
Title
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
Author
Pirsig, Robert M
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Very Good
Quantity Available
1
ISBN 10
0688002307
ISBN 13
9780688002305
Publisher
William Morrow
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1974-05-01
X weight
18 oz

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About the Seller

Griffin Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2003
Stamford, Connecticut

About Griffin Books

General stock of approximately 12,000 titles with a concentration in non-fiction. The more unsual the better if we can find it. We are always buying libraries and collections in the Greater NYC and CT area including Fairfield, New Haven and Westchester counties.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

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...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Price Clipped
When a book is described as price-clipped, it indicates that the portion of the dust jacket flap that has the publisher's...
Fore Edge
The portion of a book that is opposite the spine. That part of a book which faces the wall when shelved in a traditional...

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