Dishing, reading, writing, aimlessly riding my bike around town
Music
"Sudbuster" (1961) The Spinners, "Born to Wash Dishes" (The Queers), "Pete's Theme" (Ten-Four), "Secret Sodas" (The High Fives), "Dish Militia" (Scared of Chaka), "For the Dishwasher" (Grandaddy)
Movies
Scarface (Tony Montana quits his dish job by telling his boss, "Wash 'em yourself. I retire!"), Midnight Cowboy (Joe Buck imagines telling the boss, "You know what you can do with them dishes!"), Dragon (the Bruce Lee character stands up for fellow dishwashers the world over by kicking ass on the four cooks at his job!)
Books
Dishwasher (the book), Dishwasher (the zine) and other such notable literary efforts featuring pearl divers like: Down and Out in Paris and London, Midnight Cowboy, Sex and Sunsets, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Dishwasher (by Dannie Martin), A Puerto Rican in New York, Blue Collar Journal, Paco's Story, Broke: The Man Without the Dime, Skinny Legs and All
About me: For 12 years, I was the most prolific dishlicker of them all. From 1989 to 2001, I dished my way around the country, unwittingly searching for direction. From a bagel joint in New Mexico to a Mexican joint in Brooklyn; from a dinner train in Rhode Island to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Branson, MO; from an upper-crust ladies’ club to a crusty hippie commune--I washed the nation’s dishes.
And I wrote a book about my experiences. It's called Dishwasher. You should check it out.
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Here's what some folks have said about Dishwasher:
“Very, very entertaining…fascinating.” --David Letterman
“You HAVE to read Pete Jordan’s Dishwasher. I consider Dishwasher Pete to be a genius--not only because he took the job of dishwashing and raised it to a Religious Calling, but also because his writing made me laugh out loud.” --Tom Hanks
“This is a story of youth (desperate to avoid experience), of work, and of the mad vastness of America, as compelling to my mind as Jack Kerouac's On The Road.” --Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All
“Dishwasher is an instant American classic. It should be required reading for every high school student in the nation, paired with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” --San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Jordan...serves up one of the most entertaining memoirs to appear in quite a while...The book’s exploration of the dishwashing subculture is fascinating…and the author...is an engaging and lighthearted storyteller.” --Booklist (starred review)
“Exceedingly well-written and explores an American subculture...with real tact and feeling and humor.” --Dwight Garner, senior editor of The New York Times Book Review
“Highly entertaining.” --Oregonian (Portland)
“Enjoyable manifesto celebrating rootless irresponsibility, with rueful acknowledgment of the pitfalls therein.” --Kirkus Reviews
“Probably in spite of, and not courtesy of, its irresponsible narrator, Dishwasher is almost compulsively readable.” --Pamela Paul, New York Times Book Review
“[Jordan] is...the definition of an individual. If you liked reading the zine (and who wouldn’t?) you’ll be glad you picked up a copy of the book. And to those who haven’t heard of Dishwasher Pete, it’s about time you meet him…An honest and fun account of a strange period in the life of a living oxymoron: a hard-working slacker.” --Bookslut
“Dishwasher Pete has finally written a memoir. If you’re already a fan of his work, you really need read no further. Go…buy the book. It’s great. You’ll love it…[M]ostly, Dishwasher is the story of 10 fascinating years in the life of a man obsessed – what more could you ask for in an autobiography?” --Willamette Week
“Jordan’s new book, Dishwasher, is not just a celebration of his triumph, and it’s not just a collection of zine excerpts. It’s the back story, the long shot, and the companion to his other writings, and it’s just as funny, just as proudly lazy, and just as inspiring as those photocopied pamphlets so many of us hoard.” --SF Weekly
“In honor of all those summer jobs you battled through back in the day, wrap your water-wrinkled fingers around a copy of Dishwasher.” --The Boston Phoenix
“Sprinkled with fascinating dish-washing history…Dishwasher’s appeal is in Jordan’s triumph, proving that following your heart – even into a sink full of scalding water – isn’t such a bad idea.” --Penthouse
“Full of colorful characters and kitchen antics, the book will have you drawing stares on the bus as you laugh out loud.” --Associated Press
“Jordan writes like your buddy who gets a couple beers in him and can’t be silenced. You keep the suds coming, ‘cause it’s just that funny.” --Philadelphia City Paper
“Rollicking.” --Portland Mercury
“[An] amusing memoir.” --People (3 1/2 out of 4 stars)
“A good story, well told...ironic...worth reading.” --San Francisco Chronicle
“A (casual) rallying cry for those disinclined toward the nine-to-five.” --Chicago Reader
“Twainishly irreverent.” --East Bay Express
“One of the most appealing, readable, and unique books on modern labor to come out in years.... Dishwasher is a fun read.” --Industrial Worker
“This memoir has it all -- humor, insight, pathos, adventure, travel and piles of dirty dishes.” --Sacramento Bee
“Jordan takes readers to the heart of the kitchen, a place known as the dish pit.” --Michele Norris, All Things Considered
“Jordan has an eye for devastating detail, but he wraps what he sees in humor. No matter how grim his situation, the reader senses he couldn’t wait to write it down, check the place off his map and keep going.” --Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“An astute observer of human behavior, [Jordan] snarkily recounts how kitchen condescension is omnipresent at summer camps, casinos, fast food joints, fish canneries and college cafeterias.” --Boston Herald
“What’s best about the book, however, is that despite Mr. Jordan’s hardened exterior as a tough-guy slacker, he approaches his experiences with a delicate sensitivity toward the people he meets along the way.” --New York Sun
“Pete Jordan’s Dishwasher book and blog [sic] developed a cult following.” --Time magazine
“His zine Dishwasher was a cult phenomenon, and Dishwasher Pete himself a folk hero.” --Pittsburgh City Paper
“Dishwasher began life as a zine Jordan published during his years as an itinerant scrubber, and the book retains the informal charms of its previous incarnation.” --Los Angeles Times
“It’s true that everyone has a story; some people’s are just more interesting than others. Such is the case with Pete Jordan.” --Chicagoist
“Some men are born great. Others find greatness in a soapy sink.” --Philadelphia Weekly
“It’s a collection of engaging vignettes, sometimes insightful but always entertaining...And the stories are well worth reading.” --Hawaii Island Journal
“A fun graduation gift for your favorite smart aleck.” --Charlotte Observer
“Dishwasher is a rewarding journey to take, full of restaurant realism and quirky kitchens, and glimpses of America seen from the margins--a country as weird and surprising as anyone could ask for.” --Sacramento News & Review
“A fun read that might help you relate a little bit better with your dish room crew.”
--Restaurant Hospitality
“There is no pretended energy, no cliché, no veil that tries to fold any added romance into the story. It is Pete’s crisp intelligence that turns an absolutely boring job into a source of wonder. Imagine the most impossibly dull moments of life, turned into squeaky-clean, sparkling things. That’s what Jordan does as we turn the pages of his book, and that is how his readers fall in love with him.” --Anarcho-Syndicalist Review
“The writing is lucid and earnest, and Jordan’s passion for dishwashing and, even more so, for blowing-in-the-wind traveling, is infectious. As his quest extends from one year to the next, and he questions the worthiness of his goal to ‘bust suds’ in all 50 states, he demonstrates an ability to convey his deepest fears without losing the upbeat, fun tone that pervades the entire memoir.” --Publishers Weekly
“Warmly recommended.” --Library Journal
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In the 1990s, when I was invited to appear on the David Letterman show, my initial impulse was to decline the invitation. I had no desire to be on TV. But my good friend Jess Hilliard did have such a desire. So I let him appear as me while I sat backstage. Read the hilarious story about this in Dishwasher!
Jess Hilliard as Dishwasher Pete on Letterman:
After the Dishwasher book was published, Letterman asked me back. This time, I appeared myself.
