Robert M. Pirsig‘s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance at Amazon, a used book store, or your parent’s book shelf. Still, it’s available on the web as PDF, at least two text files — one, two — And even as a podcast (subscribe via iTunes).
Lots of people have re-traced the journey described in the book, at least one person has posted a travelogue about it to the web. Henry Gurr has posted Pirsig’s own photos, and Christoph Bartneck pointed out many locations in Google Maps:
- Minnesota > Minneapolis > Breckenridge
- North Dakota > Ellendale > Hague
- South Dakota > Herreid > Mobridge > Lemmon > Bowman
- Montana > Baker > Miles City > Laurel > Red Lodge > Cooke City > Yellowstone National Park > Gardiner > Bozeman > English Department at the Montana State University > Missoula > Three Forks > Butte > Anaconda > Philipsburg > Hall > Lolo Pass > Billings
- Idaho > White Bird > Riggins > New Meadows > Cambridge > Brownlee Dam
- Oregon > Richland > Baker > Unity > Dixie Pass > Prairie City > Dayville > Mitchell > Prineville > Bend > La Pine > Crater Lake > Klamath Lake > Medford > Grants Pass
- California > Crescent City > Arcata > Leggett > Mendocino > Caspar, CA, Point Cabrillo Road – The Climax of the book. > San Francisco, CA, Haight / Divisadero – The corner on which Chris died.
NPR interviewed the author at the book’s release in 1974, when he was living in Minnesota.