Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by: Mark Richardson
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Product Description:
Zen and Now is a vivid chronicle of a journalist’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 Pirsig’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 book’s spell was Mark Richardson, who as a young man struggled to understand Pirsig’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 Pirsig’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 “Pirsig pilgrim,” one of the legion of fans who retrace the Pirsigs’ 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 Pirsig’s philosophy and the answers it may offer to the questions in his own life. Richardson’s dogged reporting also gives new insight into the reclusive writer’s life, exploring Pirsig’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 Pirsig’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.
Zen and Now is a vivid chronicle of a journalist’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 Pirsig’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 book’s spell was Mark Richardson, who as a young man struggled to understand Pirsig’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 Pirsig’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 “Pirsig pilgrim,” one of the legion of fans who retrace the Pirsigs’ 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 Pirsig’s philosophy and the answers it may offer to the questions in his own life. Richardson’s dogged reporting also gives new insight into the reclusive writer’s life, exploring Pirsig’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 Pirsig’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.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Not what I expected
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 ... Read More
Rating: 
- Completely misses the mark.
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 ... Read More
Rating: - A solid read
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: 
- Motorcycle travel with a twist of Zen
When I first read Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," I felt somewhat bewildered. I loved his passion, I loved the intensity of his relationships and his beliefs about life. And yet, I felt he was in over his head, trying to build sanity on shaky ground. He desperately tried to shore up that foundation with his ideas of quality, but if he succeeded in solidifying the foundation, I for one was never convinced. I was prepared to let "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" ... Read More
Rating: - Finally, an Interviewer Shares insights on Pirsig's First Family
Unlike several of the other Amazon reviewers, when I read "Zen and Now" I found that Richardson understands that "Zen and the Art" was about much more than a motorcycle trip.However, he felt that it would be pointless for a third party to recreate Robert Pirsig's bestseller.What Richardson does do is to fill in many gaps in our understanding of Pirsig himself.In other words, this is literary biography.And, as literary biography, I give this book high marks.
What's new about "Zen and Now"? ... Read More
- Not what I expectedMark 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 ... Read More
- Completely misses the mark.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 ... Read More
- A solid readSo 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.
- Motorcycle travel with a twist of ZenWhen I first read Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," I felt somewhat bewildered. I loved his passion, I loved the intensity of his relationships and his beliefs about life. And yet, I felt he was in over his head, trying to build sanity on shaky ground. He desperately tried to shore up that foundation with his ideas of quality, but if he succeeded in solidifying the foundation, I for one was never convinced. I was prepared to let "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" ... Read More
- Finally, an Interviewer Shares insights on Pirsig's First FamilyUnlike several of the other Amazon reviewers, when I read "Zen and Now" I found that Richardson understands that "Zen and the Art" was about much more than a motorcycle trip.However, he felt that it would be pointless for a third party to recreate Robert Pirsig's bestseller.What Richardson does do is to fill in many gaps in our understanding of Pirsig himself.In other words, this is literary biography.And, as literary biography, I give this book high marks.
What's new about "Zen and Now"? ... Read More
