Robert Pirsig Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Robert Pirsig
OCCUPATION: Educator, Philosopher, Journalist
BIRTH DATE: September 06, 1928 (Age: 83)
EDUCATION: University of Minnesota
PLACE OF BIRTH: Minneapolis, Minnesota

ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

more about Robert

Best Known For

American author Robert Pirsig is best known for his philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974).

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Robert Maynard Pirsig

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Synopsis

Robert Pirsig rose rapidly to fame with his autobiographical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974). The book chronicled the motorcycle journey of the narrator who ruminates on philosophical approaches to life, arguing that motorcycle maintenance is a metaphor for life. The book became a cult classic, selling more than 4 million copies in the next 25 years.

Profile

Writer. Born September 6, 1928, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pirsig, the son of a Minnesota law professor, rose rapidly to fame with his autobiographical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974). The book chronicled the motorcycle journey of the narrator, a former philosophy professor who underwent involuntary electrical shock treatment for alleged insanity, across the country with his 11-year-old son. During his journey, the narrator ruminates on philosophical approaches to life, arguing that motorcycle maintenance is a metaphor for life. Along the way, he heals a deep emotional rift with his son.

The book was rejected by more than 120 publishing houses before it was published by William Morrow and Company in 1974. Robert Pirsig received only a $3,000 advance and was warned that the book would probably bomb. It became a cult classic, selling more than 4 million copies in the next 25 years. Tragically, Pirsig?s son was stabbed to death in a mugging 10 years after the book came out.

After the book?s publication, Pirsig spent several years living on a boat and traveling the world. In 1991, he published Lila, another deeply philosophical novel.