Thursday, September 6, 2007

Pooky's Book Club recommendation (look out Oprah!)

This morning on The Writer's Almanac, I heard that today is the birthday of Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

That really took me back, as the book was published in 1974, and I believe when I read it, I was a senior in high school in 1978. If you haven't read this book, you must do so now. It is a classic odyssey narrative, the story of a motorcycle trip Pirsig took across country with his 12-year old son. Yet interspersed in the account are Pirsig's incredibly insightful thoughts. To quote wikipedia.com:
The 1974 book describes a journey across the United States, punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions (many of them on epistemology and the philosophy of science) which the author refers to as chautauquas.

I am so glad I was reminded of this wonderful book. I bet I still have my beat-up high school paperback copy somewhere ....

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