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



Autobiographical novel

The books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig and The Tao of Muhammad Ali by Davis Miller open with statements admitting to some fictionalising of events but state they are true 'in essence.'

Honda CB77

Robert M. Pirsig rode a CB77 Super Hawk on the trip he made with his son and their friends in 1968 on a two month round trip from their home in St. Paul, Minnesota to Petaluma, California, which became the basis for the novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.

James Verne Dusenberry

He was also known as a colleague of Robert M. Pirsig at Montana State, making appearances in Pirsig’s books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.

Lila: An Inquiry into Morals

Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) is the second philosophical novel by Robert M. Pirsig, who is best known for his classic text, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Pirsig

Robert M. Pirsig (born 6 September 1928), Maynard's son, an American writer and philosopher, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Technical writer

Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance wrote technical manuals for IBM, while working on the bestselling book.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The title is an apparent play on the title of the book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel.

Zen in the Art of Archery

Indeed, more than 200 books now have similar titles, including Robert Pirsig's 1974 widely popular book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, as well as "Zen and the Art of Poker,", "Zen and the Art of Knitting", and Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating, and so on.


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