This book had a pretty profound impact on me as a young guy. It was the perfect blend of western and eastern philosophy, with a struggle for meaning, that I needed at the time. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is semi-autobiographical, chronicling a month-long motorcycle trip he made with his young son, and is the first of his books to explore his Metaphysics of Quality. Incredibly, the manuscript was rejected by a staggering 121 publishers, prior to being picked up by Morrow in 1974. This is the first edition, first printing:
Great cover design, eh? Here's Pirsig on his bike with his son, Chris:
As a tragic ending of sorts, Chris was murdered during a mugging outside the San Francisco Zen Center just weeks shy of his 23rd birthday. The 10th anniversary edition contains a heart-breaking afterward by Pirsig about the event.
In any case, this is a fantastic book that I highly recommend!
I'm going to need to make a LOT more money if I want to have time to read all the books you keep piqueing my interest with.....
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This is one of those books people keep telling me to read after I've told them about the kind of philosophy I do for a living. So I've had this book on my radar for a long time. Its heart-warming to read how often it was rejected by publishers, knowing how many people I already know that have been influenced by this book. So, your post was very inspirational. I already knew I should read this book, but you've also shown me (once again) that I should just keep trying. That one day, perhaps, ...
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Get to it man! The 10th and 25th anniversary hardcover editions look pretty much identical to the first and are lovely copies to hold.
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I think you left the link off?
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This one's not for sale!
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Ooh,...
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I love that it's not for sale. Reminds me of an early edition I have of Albert Camus' The Plague (in French). Not for sale either!
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Oh man. I'd love to see that!
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I also have a 1942 Camus 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe'. Gallimard, thin paper cover, original. Not a first edition. Found on that same day on a flea market. Do you think that is worth something (not for sale either, btw)
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I'd say so. Do you know which printing it is?
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1947, Gallimard. Found it while browsing old books on a flea market in Belgium one time...
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Beautiful.
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Amazing book. One that had an impact on me growing up. Two things that stick out to this day from the book are, the dilemma of quality and what it means. Education, particularly establishment owning the practice. Among many other gems such as the virtue in taking care of the things that matter. Really cool seeing the first edition. Mine looks just like it but was a re-issue much later.
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