There are several layers to this book. The outermost layer is a cross-country motorcycle trip Pirsig takes with his son, Chris. I probably enjoyed this part of the book the most, traveling vicariously through states I've never visited. Pirsig's occasional descriptions of the scenery and people is refreshingly frank. The next layer is a series of talks Pirsig conducts in his head while riding the motorcycle. Most of this is a discussion of Quality. Since most of the book is spent describing this concept I won't go into it here. The innermost layer is the life story of Phaedrus, a man whose past continually haunts Pirsig and serves as a backbone for his concept of Quality. Now that I've finished it, I don't feel particularly enlightened. I think I may have gotten more out of this book had I read it when it first came out, or perhaps if I were at all familiar with the existing schools of philosophical thought. Having never read Aristotle or Socrates, I can't say whether or not Pirsig's arguments against them have any merit. My favorite parts were when he was less zen and more motorcycle maintenance, especially the course on Gumptionology 101. That made me smile. All in all, this isn't the sort of book I could read for long stretches at a time, but rather something to dip into now and again. I'm glad to have read it, but I don't think it's something I would read again. ( )

Mental masturbation of the worst kind; totally self involving blather with little or no contribution to anything worthwhile save re-enforcement of the author's overblown ego. Even while not waxing tedious on encyclopedic anecdotes, the author's condescending judgmental attitude toward his travel mates makes me wonder why these people want to spend any time with the author in the first place.The marketing come-on gracing the front cover states, "a man in search of himself". I could buy into that if the book had any relation to a true Zen experience. This is more a monologue of scattered philosophical thought chosen to support the authors preconceived prejudices. ( )

This is one which, I hate to say, lost me towards the end. I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this book, but the text surrounding Persig's apparent mental breakdown and what seemed to be a second personality really threw me for a loop. Maybe I'm not "Zen" enough to understand it, as my professor vaguely implied, or maybe the failure can partially be laid on the author's own shoulders. Either way, tread with caution. I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid this book--I quite enjoyed it--but be prepared to be puzzled. ( )

What a pleasure. I read this umpteen years ago when I was in high school. It's quite fascinating to reread it as an adult. Beautiful story of father and son, beautiful attention to detail as they travel across the country, and very interesting philosophical exploration. It's not a fast read, as the philosophical sections require actual thought and digestion, but well worth the work.

This can only be described as a quality book. I loved it. ( )