“Technology presumes there’s just one right way to do things and there never is.”
— Robert M. Pirsig
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
After 126 rejections, Robert M. Pirsig finally got his 1974 fictionalized autobiographical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance published. It went on to sell over five million copies worldwide, despite having very little to do with motorcycle maintenance. Pirsig’s tale had more to do with philosophy and self-reconciliation. His account was partly based on the after-effects of the electroshock therapy he received as a patient in a mental institution to treat his diagnosed schizophrenia.