Keith Gillette
My high school English teacher gave me a copy of Zen and the Art of
Motorcyle Maintenance as a graduation present. I found it mildly
intriguing at the time, but didn't really take too much note of it until I
had taken a few philosophy courses in college and had my requisite
existential crisis. I came back to ZMM during a summer break, more
fully aware of the issues with which Pirsig was grappling, and was
instantly converted. I immediately sought out more from Pirsig, and
thankfully, found Lila, then already in paperback. Zen drew
me in, but Lila made me a believer, clarifying the murky ideas ideas
that had been floating through my head during those college philosophy
courses, and giving me a framework through which to investigate and
evaluate everything else.
I ended up getting a B.S. in philosophy from the University of
Wisconsin--Madison, with Pirsig's ideas heavily influencing my writing. I
now do what all philosophy majors do after college: work with computers.
Living in Austin, Texas, I administer LAN and WAN services for my employer,
attend martial arts classes, futz with Macs, and read, quite often
returning to Pirsig's twin treatises.
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