Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", which I read while recovering from flu one year in college. His description of the road trip from Minneso

Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", which I read while recovering from flu one year in college. His description of the road trip from Minnesota to California motivated me to mark his path on my highway atlas. The discussion of romantic versus classical thinking resonated with me right away. The idea of Quality as a focal point was important to me. The story of his studies at the University of Chicago gave me a bit of insight into the academic world, and a different perspective on Great Books. When I had my own Zen practice years later, I could link it to this book. The distinction between Logos and Mythos opened my eyes to the power of our unspoken assumptions, built into our language. Later, after I had children of my own, I could relate to the way Phaedrus gets along with his son Chris.