Robert M. Pirsig, author of the counterculture “novelistic autobiography” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance died Monday at his home in South Berwick, ME, “after a period of failing health,” the LA Times reports. He was 88.

Pirsig finally published Zen—his recollection of a 1968 motorcycle trip with his son Christopher—in 1974, after being rejected by 121 publishers. The books became a best-seller.

In addition to Zen, Pirsig also wrote Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.