5 Responses to “Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

1. Bruce Oksol
   December 25th, 2009 @ 9:34 am

   Pirsig’s was autobiographical: an exploration into identity written by a man who had received electroshock therapy after a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and nothing about motorcycles or maintenance, except as metaphor.

   This book is simply a way to sell books on the coattails of a bestseller that broke new ground in the literature of exploring the human condition at its most profound. This, on the other hand, is simply about a monotonous motorbike ride, with occasional vignettes of some interest.

   To know more about the author of the original ZAMM, google Henry Gurr.
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. Tony the Tour Guy
   December 25th, 2009 @ 12:04 pm

   It was enjoyable reading up on some of the characters behind the ZAMM story. But there’s too much fluff here.
   Rating: 4 / 5

3. P. Wung
   December 25th, 2009 @ 2:12 pm

   Mark Richardson warns you from the beginning, this is not a rehash of the seminal book by Robert Pirsig. In fact, it took me a long time to figure out what it is. I am still kind of puzzling over it. It is kind of a travelogue, of Richardson’s trip re-tracing Pirsig’s route through American west. But it is not a faithful re-tracing. It is a loose history of Pirsig, his family, whom we met before and it is a closer chronological history, but not too closely. It is a visit with the people from the book, but you don’t really get to know them that much better, more than the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance book but probably less than what people want.

   It is also a personal journey for Richardson, a kind of middle aged reassessment of his life since he’d read ZMM, but not too close, because he kept the reader kind of at arms length and then kind of intimately.

   On the one hand, it gives everyone a good followup of what had happened with Pirsig, his son Chris and Ted, his ex-wife Nancy. As well as what had happened to the Deweeses, the Sutherlands, and a few other characters.

   It also goes much beyond the end of that book and it moves to Pirsig’s life after unwanted fame. The breakup of his marriage, the evolution of his second marriage, the birth of his daughter Nell, and the writing of Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals. That part of the book was very interesting and it was the sort of gossipy and nostalgic story telling that the fans of ZMM want.

   What it lacked was the scholarly, but for that you can get Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A very good and complete scholarly study of ZMM itself and it also have lots of great bibliographic information.

   So what is this book about? I wasn’t sure about it until I was half way through the book, that may have to do the weakness of the writer or the reader. I think it was a case of both. It seems nothing with ZMM could be had easily, it took my close to 100 pages to get into ZMM and it took me half the book to get into this book.

   This is a very personal journey by one of us, just a regular guy who happens to write very well and his struggles with growing up, with dealing with his own mortality and his fascination with ZMM, Pirsig, the concept of quality, the magnetic attraction of the road, and doing it on a motorcycle. After all, the idea blended the most seductive elements of the 60′s and 70′s nostalgia: motorcycles and Zen, along with the timeless elements of the American rugged individualism: a story about the road and the taciturn strong silent type.

   In many ways, Mark Richardson succeeded. I enjoyed his stories about Pirsig, his own visits with the people from the book and his own adventures on the trip. But in certain ways he failed because parts of the book failed to grab my interest because it was a slog at times to get through the book.

   In the end, I got through it, and I enjoyed the journey.

   In reading over the past few paragraphs, I realize that I had not performed my duties as a reviewer very well. I did not give concrete proof or significant arguments with regard to the book, but this is the kind of book it is. You need to read it and figure it out for yourself. Indeed, this was the way ZMM was for me initially. So, if you were fascinated by ZMM and wanted some more background on the people depicted, this is a great reference. If fascinated overstated your reaction to ZMM, then I would stay away from this book.

   Rating: 4 / 5

4. Thaddeus T. Haas
   December 25th, 2009 @ 3:22 pm

   So I definitely enjoyed this book. Nothing profound but lots of small insights. I enjoyed the ride and thought the author did a great job of telling his own story while weaving in great references to the original Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

   Rating: 4 / 5

5. Michael B. Grayson
   December 25th, 2009 @ 5:02 pm

   I like the style very much, how it mirrors ZATAOMM. I found Richardson’s journey and story to be equally compelling as Pirsigs. The author mixed these stories together in three threads: his journey across the country, Pirsig’s original journey, and the biographical facts of Pirsig’s life. I enjoyed all three.

   This book does not dwell on the philoshical part of ZATAOMM. That is ok. Any attempt to re-create or deeply evaluate Pirsig’s concepts would likely pale in comparison.

   I still think that this book is excellent, and I recommend it.

   Mike
   
   Rating: 5 / 5

About

This is an automated collection of motorcycle related content updated several times a day. Initially built by the editor of Helmet Hair - Motorcycle Blog as a way to stay on top of the most current motorcycle news. More

Subscribe to our feed

Search

Admin

• Log in
• Wordpress
• XHTML