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Dec 16, 2009

Ken rated it:

People compare this work to Kerouac's On The Road. Or at least, a blurb on the back cover of this book makes the comparison. I understand why. Here's a guy who looks at the conventional expectations of our society, shrugs them off, and hits the road. In this case, he aims to be a dishwasher in all 50 states.

I really wanted to like this book. The material was probably great as presented originally, in zine articles and pieces on the NPR radio show This American Life. The book is organ More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

hench rated it:

hmm. the book itself is written just fine - it's breezy and quick and goes well with a couple of beers on the back porch.

it's just.... look, we've all quit a job once or twice in our lives without giving the two weeks' notice, leaving people in the lurch, bla bla bla. it's a dick move, but it feels great and it leaves you with a fun story that will impress impressionable people and depress your depression-era grandparents.

BUT! DUDE! if you do this with every job you tak More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2008

Ocean rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2007

Christa rated it:

I had been hearing a lot from Dishwasher Pete for the last couple of years on NPR's This American Life, and I always thought he was interesting and funny and oddly inspirational. I had actually meant to tracker down his zine Dishwasher for for a while, but instead I discovered this book at Borders one day. It did not disappoint! It was a great light read and I would definitely recommend. The only downside is it might make you rethink your lifestyle entirely....

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2008

Greg rated it:

You would think working as a dishwasher for 10+ years (as the author did) would yield some great stories and a heaping pile of insight into the human condition, but there isn't anything like that to be found here. Every chapter is exactly the same. "I got a job washing dishes in ______ state then quit." Way to go. Here's a book deal.

At many points while reading this book, I truly thought I'd really rather be washing dishes than reading this.

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Robin rated it:

Dishwasher Pete and I never ran in the same zine circles, but I read a few issues of Dishwasher; everybody read that zine. It was an exciting zine for a teenage girl like myself to read. Here was a guy who decided to take off and do his own thing. He did something that most people were afraid to do, that was entirely of his own invention. Dishwasher Pete's quest to wash dishes in all 50 states with no specific plan in mind was noble at best; a slight waste of time at worst.

Now that I'm More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2008

Ciara rated it:

i'm kind of amazed at the bad reviews this book has gotten on the goodreads website. people are all, "i heard this guy on NPR & his story sounded interesting, but his book was a total bore!" it won't be surprising to people who know me that i knew about the dishwashing-in-all-fifty-states quest from "dishwasher" the zine. i won't claim to have read too many issues, because i was into riot grrrl when pete was publishing regularly, & our little zine scenes didn't have a lot of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 14, 2010

Justin rated it:

Pete Jordan is no writer and, to his credit, never professes to be. He is a wanderer, a reader, a collector (of things and experiences), an activist and even a community organizer of sorts. The zine he created documenting his adventures as an itinerant dishwasher (aptly titled, as this book is, Dishwasher) seemed more of an attempt to create a community amidst dishwashers—a segment of the population that obviously is largely ignored—than to create any great literary achievement. Jordan even stud More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 21, 2008

Kerri rated it:

If you know me well, you know that I'm compulsive about finishing books I start. There have been a precious few books I've put away w/out finishing, no matter how miserable I was during the process of reading them. Well, this book beat me just 50 pages in.

I asked my husband (who managed to get 3/4 through before putting it down, though he's a chronic book-not-finisher), "Does this guy change any, or is he this big of an asshole all the way through?" Husband responded, " More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2009

Tamara rated it:

Pete washed dishes at Jakes in Dover NH & Warren's Lobster House in Kittery ME.

Ever feel like you were born to do the dishes? Pete Jordan didn’t at first, but then once he fell into it, he loved it. Washing dishes was the perfect job for someone who didn’t want any responsibilities.

It took him twelve years of being a dish-dog to complete his goal of washing dishes in all fifty states but he did it!

Known by many, as “Dishwasher Pete” for his “Dishwasher zine” More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 05, 2007

Brad rated it:

Dishwasher follow “Dishwasher Pete” Jordan as he goes on a self-appointed quest to work as a dishwasher in all 50 states. It starts out with his humble beginnings in San Francisco, as Pete easily explains his general dislike of work and the annoyances of colleagues and customers. Pete has more id than anyone—while most people put up with crappy work, he just leaves. Since dishwashing is among the crappiest jobs, he can always find somewhere else that needs him.
Jordan has several good stori More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Zoe rated it:

What I liked: Rather than just recycle material from his Dishwasher zines, Jordan puts together a cohesive history of ten years of meandering travels and dishwashing adventures. His writing is funny and easy to read, although it does get a little repetitive at times and some of his digressions into dishwashing history didn't keep my attention.

What I didn't like: Jordan ends his attempt to wash dishes at a Cracker Barrel in South Carolina. He sees some customers entering/exiting the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jessica rated it:

I adored Pete Jordan's utter lack of ambition while achieving so much in this epic tale of a quest to wash dishes in all 50 states. For while he shirks all notions of the American Dream, aka moving up in the business to 'cook' or 'waiter', he spends a lot of his 'sitting on his ass' time reading great, classic novels or writing passages for his Zine, Dishwasher. I am all for the idea of self-improvement and self-awareness while not contributing too much to the rat race of the American working l More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 25, 2007

Heather rated it:

When I started this book, I wrote "I keep wondering when Pete will become a sympathetic protagonist. Right now he's...he's kind of a dick." The answer is: Never. Never does Pete become a sympathetic protagonist. He flippantly uses the term "plongeur morality" to describe his unreliability, and, frankly, it's really unappealing. The ending of the book is terribly abrupt, and I grew weary of his "I worked this job until I got sick of it and then quit leaving people in the More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2009

Beth rated it:

This was a fascinating book that I stumbled upon during my first visit to our neighborhood Sioux Falls library. At first I could not identify at all with the author, who described himself and proved himself to be unmotivated and disgustingly lazy...but he did such a successful job explaining the circumstances that developed those characteristics in him that I was eventually able to see through the eyes of this someone who was so entirely different from me. As the book progressed, I kept finding More...

0 comments like

Feb 19, 2011

Julia rated it:

While no literary masterpiece, this book was a fun read, especially for fans of vagabond travel, minimalism, and voluntary simplicity. In the early 90s, Pete Jordan set a goal of washing dishes in all fifty states. Why dish washing? He was good at it, restaurants are always hiring dishwashers because of the high turnover rate, and there are no strings attached. He could get a job and leave it the same day if he didn't like it without having to worry about the future of his career.
So, P More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 10, 2009

Christopher rated it:

In 1999, a friend of mine was living in a residential hotel down in the valley because he got some work on a TV show. He didn't know many people and so he did a lot of reading. I visited him for a week and he turned me onto a 'zine that he liked called "Dishwasher". My friend had been in contact with Dishwasher Pete for back issues. They were all great. Then Dishwasher disappeared.

About 8 years later that same friend came to visit me in the Mission. On the ground floo More...

0 comments like

Aug 12, 2009

Laura rated it:

The proclamation of the cover of this book pretty much says it all- "One man's quest to wash dishes in all fifty states." "Dishwasher" chronicles ten years of Pete Jordan's life dishing his way around the United States. As one may imagine, there are plenty of hilarious anecdotes that go along with such an ambition, my favorite being the time he was asked to go on Letterman, but sent out his friend instead, who was later found out and charged as being a phony Dishwasher Pete. More...

0 comments like

Dec 17, 2009

Jenny Schmenny rated it:

Veteran zinester Pete Jordan's been writing about his dishslinging adventures for years, and he's finally turned them into a book documenting his quest to wash dishes in every state. Sure, it's fun to rubberneck through pages of filth, bad bosses, and shitty drunk work ethic. If he hadn't wrapped up with an epiphany sparked by fatphobia, I might have given this another star, but screw that, even if it was a minor note.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2007

Jennifer rated it:

I laughed my ass off with this book. Pete Jordan is a man who never desires to reach above the level of dishwasher--but that doesn't mean he has no ambitions. His storied of washing dishes, dishwashers in history, and just his travels around the world are hilarious. Even my doubting husband laughed out loud on the bus at the book. It's impossible to say what makes it so funny without giving away all the good parts.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 13, 2010

Marsha rated it:

This book was a good read. Pete worked various dishwashing jobs in different states for days, or weeks or months, while collecting some money to travel somewhere else. He would get himself fired or quit when the going got tough or he just did not want to deal with the job's nonsense anymore. He liked working as a dishwasher also as it often provided for him free meals as well. He crashed on friends' couches, slept in a van for a while and kept his possessions slim. He read a lot and started More...

0 comments like

Mar 09, 2011

Cody rated it:

sorry npr but this book is super lame. man sets out to wash dishes in every state, doesnt actually complete the goal (ahhh spoilered bitch!) has some vaguely wacky adventures but not really, most of the time is just picking food boogers off his arm. there are potentially cool themese here - transience! organizing labor! forever living fifty dollars away from complete devastation! - but at no point does he dig fuckin deep and start expounding on it. this is just goofy anecdotes that are mostly th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Terry rated it:

Fun and easy read! This guy, Pete Jordan, just doesn't like to be tied down or be in a situation he can't get out of. This is the reason why he chose dishwashing as a profession/hobby for his early years, he can get hired and quit in the same day without having to worry about finding work, people always need dishers. He had dreams of traveling as a child and would study maps and capitals all over the USA. After doing a few dishing jobs over the country he gets the idea to fulfill his travel/slac More...

0 comments like

Apr 14, 2011

Angel rated it:

As the rating says, the book was pretty much ok. After a while, I did just scan some parts. The book is really a mixed bag. There are some moments that are interesting in terms of the places his travels and the look at how food service work operates. But on the other hand, there are moments as well you may not want to eat out again given the condition of some places he has worked at (though that is not so bad). What can be grinding is the fact that basically the author is a lazy slacker with min More...

0 comments like

Jul 22, 2007

Meghan rated it:

Made me feel better about my own lack of ambition. He quits a lot of jobs, and it feels good to read about it. Imagine a supervisor trying to take advantage of you somehow, or just generally being a jerk. Then imagine having the freedom to never show up to your job again, without explanation.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2012

Diane rated it:

I had heard an interview with Pete Jordan, which spurred me to get this book out of the library. It was difficult for me to read. There are some really disgusting portions in it, but then, I do remember the attitude, the actions from another time in my life. However, even my 17 yo son thought the author was arrogant. Thankfully, he wakes up - albeit, late in life. It is about a time when a person chooses not to have his act together, continually, and wonders why he can't keep a girl friend. Pers More...

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2007

Kristin rated it:

A good read, if a slightly random topic of a guy trying to wash dishes in all 50 states. It was interesting to see the culture in American restaurant kitchen and how dishwashers find their place at the bottom of the hierarchy. Very well written, it was a quick read and enjoyable.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 09, 2009

george rated it:

I wanted to like this, but it just didn't do it for me. The writing wasn't very good--I read a review in which it was described as "flat" and I think that's an apt description. The other thing that really bothered me was Jordan's attitude about...well, everything. He is quite possibly the laziest person ever. I consider myself quite lazy, but he makes me feel damn productive in comparison. That's why he washes dishes--because he can get jobs quickly and leave whenever he feels the urge More...

2 comments like

Dec 17, 2009

Taliser rated it:

A fun reminder that you don't always have to take life too seriously. I enjoyed Pete's witty moments and anecdotes which are peppered by a few historical tidbits about the power of dishwashers united. A good walk down memory lane for some prior jobs I've had.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 21, 2007

Stephen rated it:

My friend Pete wrote it. He's an interesting dude. The book is bbservant, witty, at times well researched, and very entertaining. Sometimes taking life in the "slow lane" is the way to fulfillment. Pete's proved it. Read it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)