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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