If you're thinking of reading this book for its philosophical insights, I recommend playing "Disco Elysium" and then reading David Chapman's Meaningness.com. Both hit the same beats with better precision and entertainment value.

As a cultural slice of life, it has considerably more value. The book captures the spirit of the early '70s — an era in which top-down systemic thinking had passed its zenith, yet the childish nihilism of the hippies offered no useful alternatives. The author, a former technical writer, tries his best to synthesize the zeitgeist, blending half-remembered pieces of Buddhism, bits of misremembered Greek philosophy (Lycus, not Phaedras, is named after the wolf), and a rebellion against academia into the world's first LessWrong post.

It would be the longest until HPMOR was authored decades later.

Given everything I said above, it may seem odd to give it three stars instead of two or only one. As I said earlier, however, it accurately captures the spirit of the '70s. It was popular — incredibly so. The bits of philosophy, musings on mental health, and surprisingly sparse instructions on how to maintain a motorcycle (they don't build them like they used to and thank goodness for that) are a snapshot of an age that still echoes into the present day.