Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Book

Zen and Now is a vivid chronicle of a journalistâ??s heartfelt and determined journey to reconnect with a beloved American classic.In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his eleven-year-old son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that would become the inspiration for Pirsigâ??s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a powerful blend of personal narrative and philosophical investigation that has inspired generations.Among the millions of readers to fall under the bookâ??s spell was Mark Richardson, who as a young man struggled to understand Pirsigâ??s provocative and elusive ideas. Rereading the book decades later, Richardson, now a journalist and a father of two, was moved by its portrayal of Pirsigâ??s complex relationship with Chris and struck by the timelessness of its lessons. So he tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a â??Pirsig pilgrim,â? one of the legion of fans who retrace the Pirsigsâ?? route from Minneapolis to San Francisco. In following this itinerary over the lonely byways of the American West, Richardson revisits the people and places from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, pondering the meaning of Pirsigâ??s philosophy and the answers it may offer to the questions in his own life. Richardsonâ??s dogged reporting also gives new insight into the reclusive writerâ??s life, exploring Pirsigâ??s struggle with mental illness, his unwanted celebrity, and the tragic, brutal murder of Chris in 1979.Published to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of Pirsigâ??s original trip, Zen and Now is a stirring meditation on a classic work and a passionate inquiry into the lessons it continues to teach us in the complex and bewildering world we inhabit today.Read More