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

429 Pages·2008·0.92 MB·English

by  Robert Pirsig

ZEN
AND THE ART OF
MOTORCYCLE
MAINTENANCE
An Inquiry into Values
by Robert M. Pirsig
For my family
Contents
Author’s Note vii
Introduction to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition xi
Part I 9
1
I CAN SEE BY MY WATCH, WITHOUT TAKING MY
HAND… 11
2
THE ROAD WINDS ON AND ON…WE STOP FOR RESTS
AND… 26
3
BY THE TIME WE ARE OUT OF THE RED RIVER… 35
4
EVERY CHAUTAUQUA SHOULD HAVE A LIST
SOMEWHERE OF valuable things… 45
5
THE FLATNESS OF THE PRAIRIE DISAPPEARS AND A
DEEP UNDULATION… 54
6
MY WATCH SAYS NINE O’CLOCK. AND IT’S ALREADY
TOO HOT… 69
7
HEAT IS EVERYWHERE NOW. I CAN’T IGNORE IT
ANYMORE. THE… 80
Part II 95
8 97
IT’S ABOUT TEN O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND I’M
SITTING…
9
NOW WE FOLLOW THE YELLOWSTONE VALLEY RIGHT
ACROSS Montana. It… 106
10
OUTSIDE IN THE VALLEY AGAIN THE SKY IS STILL
LIMITED… 112
11
I WAKE UP WONDERING IF I KNOW WE’RE NEAR
MOUNTAINS… 119
12
AT COOKE CITY JOHN AND SYLVIA LOOK AND SOUND
HAPPIER… 137
13
JOHN AND SYLVIA EAT THEIR BREAKFAST HOT CAKES
AND DRINK… 146
14
WE RIDE DOWN OUT OF THE PASS ONTO A SMALL… 154
15
FOR TWO DAYS JOHN AND SYLVIA AND CHRIS AND
I… 174
Part III 185
16
CHRIS AND I HAVE HAD A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP AND… 187
17
IT’S LOOKING BAD FOR CHRIS. FOR A WHILE HE WAS… 202
18
THERE’S AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY
CONCERNED WITH the definition… 212
19
A MAT OF SUNLIT PINE NEEDLES BY MY FACE
SLOWLY… 226
20
EVIDENTLY I’VE SLEPT. THE SUN IS HOT. MY WATCH
SAYS… 241
21
“YOU’RE NOT VERY BRAVE, ARE YOU?” CHRIS SAYS. 255
22
THE NEXT MORNING WE CHECK OUT OF THE HOTEL
FEELING… 259
23
There it is at the end of the corridor: a… 273
24
THE SUN IS UP. 274
25
THIS MORNING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF
STUCKNESS was… 289
26
A SENSATION OF COLD WAKES ME UP. I SEE OUT… 300
Part IV 327
27
Why don’t you come out of the shadows? What do… 329
28
THE DESPAIR GROWS NOW. 331
29
IN THE PROCESS OF TAKING STUFF OUT OF THE
SADDLEBAGS… 353
30 382
AT ARCATA WE ENTER A SMALL DINER, COLD AND
WET,…
31
IN THE MORNING I’M STOPPED BY THE APPEARANCE
OF A… 399
32
As we ride now through coastal manzanita and waxen-leafed
shrubs,… 409
Afterword 413
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Author’s Note
WHAT FOLLOWS IS BASED ON ACTUAL OCCURRENCES. ALTHOUGH
MUCH HAS been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded
in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated
with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen
Buddhist practice. It’s not very factual on motorcycles either.

And what is good, Phaedrus,
And what is not good—
Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?