Dishwasher

[gordonzola]

I was so excited by the release of Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States that not only did I pre-order it, I read half of it last night. Go buy it! It's awesome.

Dishwasher Pete was one of the great zinesters of the great '80s/'90s zine era. I'm pretty sure that, like Cometbus, Dishwasher Pete somehow managed to scam a ciculation of 10,000 readers per issue by the time he stopped publishing. I know we couldn't keep in on the shelves at Epicenter, it was one of our best sellers, right up there with Cometbus, Doris, i'm so fucking beautiful, and Pathetic Life.

The general theme was working class kid attracted to dishwashing because of the opportunities for free food, slacking, travel, and quitting on a moment's notice, decides that his quest should be to wash dishes in every state. It's a class-conscious and funny memoir/travelogue. Lots of drinking, dish-breaking, leftover eating and finding better things to do than work. Go get it!

Comments

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I don't agree. Though I worked at MRR and Epicenter, the whole indie-label issue was not really my main thing. I think if he could sell Dishwasher to a major press, good for him. The book certainly looks better than many indie press books (AK, for example, only very recently is publishing books that look good and are decently-edited). I think most writers need good editors. Those aren't always available at indie presses.

I have no idea of Pete's details, but a major press advance also can buy a lot of time to write and edit. I'm glad he got a pay day (I guess I should say "I hope he got a pay day") for all those years of writing for basically nothing.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

A major press advance for a first book? His main claim to fame is to have fooled the Tonight Show into thinking his friend was him. Let's just say I'm skeptical. The editor part I agree with. The part with the bigger publisher though is that once the editor's done, he's one small book among many books, whereas at a small press they'd try much harder to push it. I don't know.

I have in mind Jim Munroe dumping HarperCollins after his first book to go DIY, but he's a really good self-marketer and he seems to enjoy the business part of the whole deal.