'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' writer Robert M. Pirsig dead at 88

April 25 (UPI) -- Renowned author Robert M. Pirsig, who penned the classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, has died at the age of 88.

Pirsig's publisher William Morrow & Company confirmed his death noting in a statement that the writer died at his home in South Berwick, Maine "after a period of failing health."

The book published in 1974, is widely regarded as a classic of popular philosophy and was famously rejected by 121 publishers before releasing and selling millions of copies worldwide.

Inspired by a West Coast 1967 motorcycle trip Pirsig took with his oldest son Christopher, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, its writer said is "not very factual on motorcycles."

"The motorcycle is mainly a mental phenomenon. People who have never worked with steel have trouble seeing this," he previously wrote of his work, The New York Times reported. "A study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself."

Pirsig penned a sequel titled Lila: An Inquiry into Morals that released in 1991. The second book which took 17 years to complete, follows the sailboat journey of two characters alongside the East Coast.

Pirsig is survived by his wife Wendy, two children and three grandchildren. His son Christopher died in 1979.