Question: Which American writer and philosopher was a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for a semi-autobiographical novel?
Context: The Pulitzer Prize for Photography was one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism.  It was inaugurated in 1942 and replaced by two photojournalism prizes in 1968: the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and "Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography".  The latter was renamed for Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2000. Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) is the second philosophical novel by Robert M. Pirsig, who is best known for "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".  "Lila: An Inquiry into Morals" was a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992.  This semi-autobiographical story takes place in the autumn as the author sails his boat down the Hudson River.  Phaedrus, the author's alter ego, is jarred out of his solitary routine by an encounter with Lila, a straightforward but troubled woman who is nearing a mental breakdown. Gina Gionfriddo is an American playwright and television writer.  Her play "Becky Shaw" was a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and her play "Rapture, Blister, Burn" was a 2013 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  She has written for the television series Paula Bronstein is a photojournalist who entered the profession in 1982 in Providence, Rhode Island.  She is now based in Bangkok where she works for Getty Images.  Bronstein was a nominated finalist for the Breaking News 2011 Pulitzer Prize. The Lexington Herald-Leader is a newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and based in the U.S. city of Lexington, Kentucky.  According to the "1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook", the "Herald-Leader"'s paid circulation is the second largest in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The newspaper has won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing and the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.  It had also been a finalist in six other Pulitzer awards in the 22-year period up until its sale in 2006, a record that was unsurpassed by any mid-sized newspaper in the United States during the same time frame. Robert Maynard Pirsig (September 6, 1928 – April 24, 2017) was an American writer and philosopher.  He was the author of the philosophical novels "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values" (1974) and "" (1991). The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism.  From 2000 it has used the "breaking news" name but it is considered a continuation of the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, which was awarded from 1968 to 1999.  Prior to 1968, a single Prize was awarded for photojournalism, the Pulitzer Prize for Photography, which was replaced in that year by Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Philip Kennicott is the chief Art and Architecture Critic of "The Washington Post".  Kennicott won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.  He had twice been a Pulitzer Prize finalist before: in 2012, he was a runner-up for the criticism prize, and in 2000, he was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for a series on gun control in the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch".  In 2015, he was a National Magazine Award finalist in the Essays and Criticism category for an essay he contributed to "Virginia Quarterly Review"; that piece, "Smuggler," Carl Frederick Buechner (born July 11, 1926) is an American writer and theologian.  He is an ordained Presbyterian minister and the author of more than thirty published books.  His work encompasses different genres, including fiction, autobiography, essays and sermons, and his career has spanned six decades.  Buechner's books have been translated into many languages for publication around the world.  He is best known for his works "A Long Day's Dying" (his first work, published in 1950); "The Book of Bebb", a tetralogy based on the character Leo Bebb published in 1979; "Godric", a first person narrative of the life of the medieval saint, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1981; "Brendan", a second novel narrating a saint's life, published in 1987; "Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner" (1992); and his autobiographical works "The Sacred Journey" (1982), "Now and Then" (1983), "Telling Secrets" (1991), and "The Eyes of the Heart: Memoirs of the Lost and Found" (1999).  He has been called "Major talent" and "...a very good writer indeed" by "the New York Times", and "one of our most original storytellers" by USA Today.  Annie Dillard (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek") says: "Frederick Buechner is one of our finest writers." Eowyn Ivey is a Pulitzer Prize finalist author.  Educated at Western Washington University, Ivey was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013 for her debut novel "The Snow Child".
Answer: Robert M. Pirsig