[unregistereddev]

Having tried to read Persig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I struggle to understand the book's popularity. The more I read the more I was convinced it was not the work of a healthy mind. Maybe he was schizophrenic? Wikipedia says yes, he was.

As someone who enjoys working on my own car and motorcycle - and as someone who does find a certain zen in maintaining the machines that I own - the book was a profound disappointment. Instead of finding philosophical insight from a relatable perspective, I found the ungrounded ramblings of a man who is seeking to understand a world which only quite exists inside his own mind.

[KerryJones]

I think the problem is you didn't finish the book. It pretty directly answers your question and dives deeper into philosophy than many philosophy courses do... it sounds like you quit too early. I agree that the early rambling was a bit hard to deal with.

[cand0r]

What stuck with me (I couldn't finish it either) was the difference between the main character and his friend's attitude to maintenance issues. Specifically the soda can shim situation. His friend had a loose handle bar or something, and the solution was a metal shim. The friend refused to "use trash as a shim" (a piece of aluminum can) and would rather pay someone at a shop to fix it. That sort of world view is something that always really irked me, but I never know how to describe it.

[dole]

Zen was published in 1974, and I believe followed [cashed in on] the motorcycle boom from the late-50's to early-70's. Chopper, motorcycle gang, and greaser culture was just starting to fade and by the time it was published, those reformed 50's and 60's hoodlums were coming of age.