It's about a man trying to find satori. While I don't agree with Buddhism, it can be a very thought provoking novel, as long as you remove the religious connotations. It's really helped me become a better programmer by removing the things in life that get in the way of my work.
>>50
Allow me to quote the only authority that matters:
Pretentious crap. Hofstadter is about as interesting and insightful as a 14-year-old stoner who got a hold of some of his dad's reference books. The actual content of this book could fit in under a hundred pages, but Hofstadter feels it necessary to pack on pages upon pages upon pages of barely-relevant filler, much of it apparently just to show off with the fact that he read some classical Greek poetry once.
To be fair, it is a very ambitious book, and one that could have turned out very interestingly, but it's also plainly obvious Hofstadter just wasn't up to the job. The whole thing is a massive (and I do mean that literally) waste of time, though since it does have a knack for making dumb people feel smart, it will undoubtedly appeal to the xkcd crowd.
Even if none of them will ever actually finish the whole thing.
In conclusion, back to xkcd, please.