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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

1974 philosophical novel in which a father and a son are on a motorcycle trip with friends
VisualArtwork literary_work Q189446
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Summary

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a literary work[1]. It has Wikipedia articles in 16 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[2]

Key Facts

  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance authored Robert M. Pirsig[3].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's instance of is recorded as literary work[4].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's genre is philosophical novel[5].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's genre is autobiographical novel[6].
  • Zen in the Art of Archery is named after Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance[7].
  • motorcycle is named after Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance[8].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was followed by Lila: An Inquiry into Morals[9].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's language of work or name is recorded as English[10].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's country of origin is recorded as United States[11].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was released on January 1, 1974[12].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was released on April 1974[13].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's has edition or translation is recorded as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance[14].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's has edition or translation is recorded as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance[15].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's narrative location is recorded as United States[16].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's title is recorded as {'lang': 'en', 'text': 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'}[17].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's subtitle is recorded as {'lang': 'en', 'text': 'An Inquiry into Values'}[18].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's first line is recorded as {'lang': 'en', 'text': "I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning. The wind, even at sixty miles an hour, is warm and humid. When it’s this hot and muggy at eight-thirty, I’m wondering what it's going to be like in the afternoon."}[19].
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's last line is recorded as {'lang': 'en', 'text': 'Trials never end, of course. Unhappiness and misfortune are bound to occur as long as people live, but there is a feeling now, that was not here before, and is not just on the surface of things, but penetrates all the way through: We’ve won it. It’s going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things.'}[20].

Body

Authorship and Creation

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance authored Robert M. Pirsig[3].

Publication

Publication dates include January 1, 1974[12] and April 1974[13]. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance's language of work or name is recorded as English[10]. Genres include philosophical novel[5] and autobiographical novel[6].

Adaptations and Inspiration

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was followed by Lila: An Inquiry into Morals[9].

Why It Matters

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has Wikipedia articles in 16 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[2] It is known by 3 alternative names across languages and contexts.[21]

Related Entities

literary work United States

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [3] ↑ . Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  3. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] ↑ . Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  16. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  2. [21] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Retrieved May 3, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance
MLA “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 3 May. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance — https://4ort.xyz/entity/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance (retrieved 2026-05-03)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 5w ago · Iamcarbon · 2026-06-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Form of creative work → Q8261
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ [[Property:P7937]]: [[Q8261]]"
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