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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Pirsig, Robert M
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: The Bodley Head, 1974. First edition, first printing. Published by The Bodley Head in London, 1974. This is a near fine copy. The dust wrapper, greatly illustrated by John Sewell, has some slight curling at the top edge, some corner wear and some light surface scratching. There is an area of separation to both spine tips. It has not been price clipped, rightly showing the original £2.95 net price. The boards are free from notable chips and marks, proudly bound in the publisher's brown buckram. The internals are immaculate, as are the text blocks. Overall, this is a near fine copy and free from inscriptions. Rare. It is a work of fictionalized autobiography and is the first of Pirsig's texts in which he explores his concept of Quality.
Synopsis
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values was written in 1974 by Robert M. Pirsig, a commentary on the Metaphysics of Quality within a growing commercialized society. The work is a fictionalized autobiography narrating a 17-day motorcycle journey across the U.S. with his son, Chris, and his friends John and Sylvia Sutherland. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of science. The interactions of these romantic philosophically driven discussions are tied by the author, who refers to his past self as Phaedrus. Author Robert M. Pirsig, a teacher of creative and technical writing at a small college, became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality", which he understood similar to Tao. His philosophical inventions and investigations later left him mentally ill, forcing him to reconcile with his past during his trip. "Quality . . . you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is. But that's self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There's nothing to talk about. But if you can't say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn't exist at all. But for all practical purposes, it really does exist."
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Atkinson Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 16617
- Title
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- Author
- Pirsig, Robert M
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Bodley Head
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1974
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
John Atkinson Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
John Atkinson Books
Biblio member since 2008
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
About John Atkinson Books
Offering rare and unique signed books not available elsewhere with constant changes in stock. Our showroom holds 100 rare first editions
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Price Clipped
- When a book is described as price-clipped, it indicates that the portion of the dust jacket flap that has the publisher's...
- Buckram
- A plain weave fabric normally made from cotton or linen which is stiffened with starch or other chemicals to cover the book...
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