Fun Facts Friday: Robert Pirsig

Robert Pirsig (6 September, 1928 – 24 April, 2017) is mainly known for his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values in which he tells of his of motorcycle trip he and his young son Chris from Minneapolis to San Francisco. The book explores western culture and analyzes forms of philosophy.

Books by Robert Pirsig

  1. Pirsig is of of German and Swedish descent.
  2. At age 9, Pirsig was discovered to have an I.Q. of 170 and finished high school at age 15 and started learning biochemistry at the University of Minnesota.
  3. Pirsig was expelled from the university, he got bad grades because he was distracted by the notion that the number of hypotheses in science are unlimited.
  4. In 1946 Pirsig joined the US Army and served in South Korea until 1948.
  5. After he was discharged, Pirsig earned a BA in Eastern Philosophy and performed graduate-level work in philosophy and journalism at the University of Chicago.
  6. In 1958 Pirsig started teaching creative writing at Montana State University.
  7. Pirsig had two sons with his wife Nancy and one child with his second wife, Wendy.
  8. Chris Pirsig was stabbed to death during a mugging outside the San Francisco Zen Center.
  9. Pirsig was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974.
  10. In 2012 Montana State Universtiy awarded Pirsig an honorary doctorate in the field of philosophy, however he did not accept the award in person due to health reasons.

Books by Robert Pirsig

Zohar – Man of la Book

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Fun Facts Friday: Robert Pirsig
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Robert Pirsig is mainly known for his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values in which he tells of his of motorcycle trip he and his young son Chris from Minneapolis to San Francisco. The book explores western culture and analyzes forms of philosophy.
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Man of la Book - A Bookish Blog
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Man of la Book

A father, husband, avid reader, blogger, software engineer & wood worker who is known the world over as a man of many interests and to his wife as “an idiot”.

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  • I didn't realize this book was about a man's journey across country. Now I want to go check the book out. Thanks for this post.

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