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May 24, 2011
ZAMM
Wow. I'm truly impressed by this guy Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was. He delved into philosophy so deeply that he'd sit in a sort of trance for days at a time. His cigarettes burned down into his fingers and he didn't flinch or wake up he was so lost in thought. He went through repeated doses of electroshock therapy to try to drag his carapace back into contact with this world. His wife left him.
And somehow, out of that nighmare...when he came out on the other side, he wrote this book and it was turned down by publishers 121 times. Think about that. Think about walking out of the insane asylum, discovering your wife has left you, your son has the early symptoms of a serious mental condition, and then writing a book about your experience. Only when you go to have this book published, no one will touch it. They avoid it like the plague. Basically, Pirsig was kicked in the balls 121 times by publishers before it was finally accepted for publication. Since then, the book has sold 5 million copies worldwide in 23 languages. ZAMM was rejected for publication more than any other bestselling book, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Posted by Rob Kiser on May 24, 2011 at 12:48 PM
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