Happier, Stupider Times

I learned every important lesson, all the most important lessons of my life, as a dishwasher.

Anthony Bourdain arrived in 1970s Provincetown with big ideas about becoming a writer and zero experience working in kitchens. Then he started washing dishes and quickly fell in with “the pirate elite”—the cooks, artists, and partiers who defined the anything-goes lifestyle of summers in P-town. Happier, Stupider Times is a sunwashed trip to the place and time that shaped Bourdain’s formative years, from the fishermen at the port to the culinary traditions and swashbuckling nightlife.

Including:
- Maps, menus, and rarely seen ephemera from iconic Provincetown establishments
- Original recipes for local dishes like Portuguese kale soup and Cape Cod clam bakes
- Artwork and photographs by the artists who lived there
- Plus never-before-seen images of Bourdain and his crew