Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States

Really funny book.

It's a beautiful, working class bible. A 'f*ck you' to the system. A reminder that we should reassess what is important in life. I will admit that I have known the author for many years. Our history goes back to the mid-1990s when he was still a dish dog and I was scrapping by - by running printing machines. We were both starving zinesters. Pete would drop in to sleep on my floor, spend his days in the library and his nights washing dishes in Brooklyn. He was a bit of blessing in my life. Back then, no matter how many hours I worked, I could not keep up with my bills. My dreams outside my day job seemed so lofty. As a dish dog Pete had perfected the art of living on a dollar a day. Or less. To him it was a challenge. His thriftiness was awh inspiring. He made survival an art form. A messy one, but an art form none the less. He helped me see that poverty could be more than just an obstacle or an embarrassment. His message to me is that money does not make me richer - living well does. Thanks for writing the book Pete.

This book is about Dishwasher Pete's (aka Pete Jordan) quest to wash dishes in all fifty states. Why anyone would want to do that, or would even care to read about a slacker trying to do it, is hard to imagine, but I found it a great read. Perhaps I found it interesting just because I wanted to understand why anyone would want to wash dishes (the Dirty Job's slant), or perhaps because of my brief (two-day) stint as a plongeur, or a desire to travel the country. But most likely it's my love of a real-world adventure told by a great story teller. This type of book often has the danger of the author who takes themselves far too serious, or on an ego trip. I mean who really cares about a dishwasher. But this is really a book about a lot more. There's the cultural differences throughout the country, where it's easy to get a dishing job, and where cultural prejudices precludes it. It shows you that dish washers are an important part of our world, and that despite their low-standing they still are needed, and that whether you're on an oil-rig, dinner train, commune, jewish nursing home, cannery, or Oktoberfest, there's someone in the dish pit taking care of business. And of course, I found it amusing that if it weren't for the cyclist unfriendly roads of Pittsburgh, he could be my neighbor. And finally there's the philosophical perspective this book tries to provide towards the end. After ten years soaking suds, sleeping in a van, traveling the country, and bouncing between jobs, what else can you do with your life. Well, if your like Dishwasher Pete, you can become a pretty good writer.

I really like stories of people's jobs, and no one I've ever read about has had more jobs then Disherwasher Pete. The author of the long-run cult favorite zine "Dishwasher" has put out this great book by the same name. Pete decided at a very long age when he had a hard time figuring out what he wanted to do for his life, that he liked to travel and see the country, and that dishwashing was the way to do it. He put up a goal of going to all 50 states to wash dishes. This is his autobiography of those journeys. And as a former dishwasher, I love this even more. It's one of those books you can't put down because it's so wild. He talks about his time aboard oil rigs, loads of evil, sick, and twisted bosses, grungy work conditions, the ability to quit a job that screws with him in any possible way (and believe me, he takes advantage of that, fulfilling the impulse of every worker in America.) Along the way, as he puts out his zine, he develops a reputation as a "Master Dishwasher" and treats the reader to the underground world of dishwashing, of sorts, like eating off of the bus tray buffet (sometimes I never got enough of when I was working as a pearl diver). He ends up on David Letterman (actually, just a friend of his impersonating him), has tons of near dates, and tells about the great history of dishwasher unions and the loyalty they have (to the exclusion of the servers and the cooks.) He doesn't spare the reader of descriptions of nasty kitchens full of roaches and rodents, and drinking on the job to pass it by. Pete really lives a lot of people's dreams, and refuses to let it end until he's at the age of 35, having been to every state in the union and seen a lot more than most people do in their whole lives. He's got such a sense of humor that's so self-depricating but at the same time proud that he doesn't let anyone tell him how to be. Everywhere from racist Louisiana resteraunt owners to hippy communes who try to sucker him into doing more than he wants, Pete always seems to end up on top. He lives dollar to dollar and makes every buck count in his travels, but always confident he can find another job, because once you washed one dish, you can wash any dish.

I found this book to be a fun read. I was drawn into the journey and very much enjoyed the humor throughout the storytelling. I don't think anyone has to be a fan of any particular genre to like this book. It went by quick, and I was kind of wanting a little more when it ended.

I was a big fan of Dishwasher zine, constantly bothering the employees at Quimby's in Chicago to ask when they'd have the next issue. Dishwasher was a zine about so much more than washing dishes. It was about freedom, community, the DIY ethos, and humanity. The stories were always entertaining, thought out, and well written. I was bummed when Pete stopped publishing Dishwasher, but elated when I found out about this book. It's essentially a memoir, and it has many of the same stories that he told in the zine. (I haven't dug up my back issues to check, but at least a couple of the stories seem to be word-for-word re-tellings of stories that appeared in the zine. This is testament to what a great writer and self-editor Pete has always been.) Here, the stories are pulled together and told within the context of a single tale, that of a man trying to find his place in the world. But it's really not as corny as I'm making it sound, sorry. Anyway, great book.