New York, April 25 (Reuters): Robert M. Pirsig, author of the influential 1970s philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died yesterday at the age of 88, his publisher said.

William Morrow & Co executive editor Peter Hubbard said in a statement that Pirsig's wife Wendy had confirmed his death at his home in Maine "after a period of failing health".

Published in 1974 after being rejected by more than 100 other publishers, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, was the father-son story of a motor-cycle trip across the western United States. Loosely autobiographical, it also contained flashbacks to a period in which the author was diagnosed as schizophrenic.

The book quickly became a bestseller. Pirsig said its protagonist "set out to resolve the conflict between classic values that create machinery, such as a motorcycle, and romantic values, such as experiencing the beauty of a country road."

Born in Minneapolis, Pirsig had a high IQ and graduated high school at the age of 15.