Gregg Bonelli, born with an inquisitive mind and competitive nature, has had the desire to go fast since 1964, when he discovered his true self through racing motorcycles. In this colorful and creative tribute to his love of motorcycling and racing, Bonelli shares insights into life and death from the seat of a racing motorcycle that vividly celebrate the lifestyle he has embraced for fifty years. Bonelli offers a fascinating glimpse into the thought processes and life of a motorcycle racer, as he made lasting friendships, raced at speeds most would think insane, and met eclectic characters along the way. With his mind constantly on motorcycles and the next race, Bonelli details how the rest of his life seemed only incidental to his obsession with going fast. Whether racing on a 250 Harley Sprint or a TZ750 Yamaha, Bonelli shares anecdotes, poetry, and prose that illuminate the pure joy of what it is like to count down the minutes until he can zip his leathers, hop in his van with his bike in the back, and head out to race again. Zen and the Art of Racing Motorcycles shares a seasoned motorcycle racer’s perspective on why he loves to ride with the wind with the throttle wide open and nothing but excitement and the possibility of a win before him.

A fifty year motorcycle racer shares insights into life and death from the seat of a racing motorcycle.

On the Trail of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Zen and Now is the story of a story that will appeal to the 5 million readers of the original and serve as an initiation to a whole new generation. Since its original publication in 1968, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values has touched whole generations of readers with its serious attempt to define “quality” in a world that seems indifferent to the responsibilities that quality brings. Mark Richardson expands that journey with an investigation of his own – to find the enigmatic author of Zen and the Art, ask him a few questions, and place his classic book in context. The result manages to be a biography of Pirsig himself – in the discovery of an unknown life of madness, murder and eventual resolution – and a splendid meditation on creativity and problem-solving, sanity and insanity.

When Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was first published in 1974, it caused a literary sensation. An entire generation was profoundly affected by the story of the narrator, his son, Chris, and their month-long motorcycle odyssey from Minnesota to California. A combination of philosophical speculation and psychological tension, the book is a complex story of relationships, values, madness, and, eventually, enlightenment. Ron Di Santo and Tom Steele have spent years investigating the background and underlying symbolism of Pirsig’s work. Together, and with the approval of Robert Pirsig, they have written a fascinating reference/companion to the original. Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance serves as a metaphorical backpack of supplies for the reader’s journey through the original work. With the background material, insights, and perspectives the authors provide, Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is destined to become required reading for new fans of the book as well as those who have returned to it over the years.

Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, this modern epic became an instant bestseller upon publication in 1974, transforming a generation and continuing to inspire millions. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.