Zen and Now

On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

By: Mark Richardson

Narrated by: Buck Schirner

In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that was the basis for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a book that has inspired generations with its searching personal and philosophical narrative.

After rereading the book at the onset of middle age, reporter Mark Richardson tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a "Pirsig Pilgrim", one of the legions of fans who regularly retrace the author's route from Minneapolis to San Francisco.

Richardson, like Pirsig before him, traveled the lonely roads of the American West, where he encountered many of the same people and places that inspired Pirsig. Richardson also corresponded with the reclusive author and his legendary editor, James Landis, and uncovered new details about Pirsig's mental illness, his unhappy celebrity, and his struggle to put his life together after the brutal murder of his son in 1979.

Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Pirsig's trip, Zen and Now is an intellectual adventure, a meditation on the values of a classic book, and an inquiry into its relevance to the complex and bewildering world we inhabit today.

Zen again: listen to the classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.©2008 Mark Richardson (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A great follow up to ZATAMM.

A great follow up, but read the original first. gives lots of historical insight on Pirsig and then trip.

Entertaining story line, good background info.

loved the book. I was sorry the journey had to end. I can highly recommend this book to any fan of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

fun listen for fans of the original book, good fun

Good book, good audio! I appreciate the added depth surrounding the original work. Enjoy! I know I did!

Wonderful

As a more than middle aged ZMM fan whose '61 BMW has not yet, and may never, make the pilgirmage of the Zen Riders, I find that Richardson's musings parallel some and suggest others I might have on the ride. Darren is correct - if you want to read about Pirsig, this is not the audiobook for you. But keep in mind that Pirsig's advice to Richardson when he declined an interview was that if you want to know an author read his books, don't talk to him. I suggest that if you want to read about ZMM, then you need to go to DiSanto and Steele's Guidebook [as Richardson had]. But if you want to experience the ZMM pilgrimage but can't make the trip[yet], then this book is for you. Richardson's story is fun, interesting, introspective and full of vicarious adventures and experiences of the real thing, in route, in spirit and in thought.

Context for Zen and the Art

I appreciate Zen/Art a lot more now than I ever did before. I can’t imagine how much work writing this well-researched book must have been. Also, surprised to learn I was in many of the places at the same time as Richardson. I may have even seen him in Idaho. That revelation turned on the switch for a book I read 34 years ago in an Honors English class. Suddenly, some things I hadn’t thought about my entire adult life came to life as I realized that, without any conscious intention, I had been to many, if not most, of the Zen and the Art locations—and on a motorcycle. Maybe Persig’s book and his journey was more a part of me than I had known. Mark Richardson’s book helped me understand that.

The reader of the book does a fabulous job.