Consider the Lobster

By: David Foster Wallace

Narrated by: David Foster Wallace

Length: 3 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Long renowned as one of the smartest writers on the loose, David Foster Wallace reveals himself in Consider the Lobster to be also one of the funniest. In this program, he ranges far and farther in his search for the original, the curious, or the merely mystifying. He discovers the World's Largest Lobster Cooker at the Maine Lobster Festival and confronts the inevitable question just beyond the butter-or-cocktail-sauce quandary.

Do lobsters feel pain?

He addresses this and other important cultural questions in four brilliant esasays from his latest collection.

In what is sure to be a much-talked-about exploration of distinctly modern subjects, one of the sharpest minds of our time delves into some of life's most delicious topics.

This collection includes the following essays: "Consider the Lobster", "The View from Mrs. Thompson's", "Big Red Son", and "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart".

©2005 David Foster Wallace. All Rights Reserved. (P)2005 Time Warner AudioBooks. All Rights Reserved. A division of Time Warner Book Group.

Critic reviews

"Wallace poses an unsettling challenge to the way many of us live now....This is strong stuff....It is Wallace's nostalgia for a lost meaningfulness...that gives his essays their particular urgency, their attractive mix of mordancy and humorous ruefulness....Few of his young peers have spoken as eloquently and feelingly as he has about the moral imagination that contemporary American life imposes on them." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Novelist Wallace might just be the smartest essayist writing today." (Publishers Weekly)

Good, but could have been better

The different voice for footnotes works and is indeed needed.
But the songs played during the beginning or end of a chapter are totally unnecessary and distracting.
Overall, this is a good listening and DFW is a great author.

Well-Read, Well-Written

Wallace has a pleasing voice, and it's great to hear him tackling some of his best writing. I wish the other essays from the book were also included, but what's here is top-drawer.

Selected Essays= Treasure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Author and narrator David Foster Wallace an inspired, funny, day in the life experience.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Loved the Rockland Maine description, as I too have eaten a lobster roll at this authentically original festival celebrating all things Maine.

What does David Foster Wallace bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His intonation and verve. His brilliant intellect spoken as if he were telling me the story..priceless.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Why spoil it with a crappy version of big Hollywood? C'mon Audible? Is this the best you can muster?

Any additional comments?

You won't be untouched by these stories

Creative non fiction at its (auditory) best

What did you like best about this story?

Hilarious - insightful - cutting straight to the bone. These are timeless essays, each poking into a hidden world: from behind-the-scenes porn stars, to simply a few old women from Ohio, reacting to 9/11. Those seem like they could fall culprit to easy cliches, but with DFW's brilliant observations and writing, everything seems fresh. This audiobook will go by instantly. Highly recommended if you like Malcolm Gladwell, Joan Didion, David Rakoff and the like.

Too short

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook. David Foster Wallace had a knack for insight that is rare. I was sad to see that this book was abridged. The essays were wonderful as always but it was over too soon.

What does David Foster Wallace bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

David's reading was not the best I've heard. He's a little monotonous. But it was nice to hear his voice and it worked well enough for these essays.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to save this book for an upcoming car trip but I could help myself and I ended up listening to it all before I left!

DFW Delivers - - Again

Would you listen to Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (Selected Essays) again? Why?

This is a fantastic collection - and narrated by the Man himself pushes it over the edge of good into a "must listen".

It's disappointingly "abridged" - that's all the negative I've got to say.

Have you listened to any of David Foster Wallace???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes - I listened to "This is Water" and I saw him read live at a Barnes and Noble in NYC in the late 90s.

How does this compare? It's good. Very good.

Great performance.

I wish I had included all the stories. I didn't check if it was abridged.

Loved It

I loved every minute of this book. Each essay was entertaining and thought provoking. It made me think about things I otherwise might never have. Overall I was very impressed, and would recommend this to anyone.

its a hard listen of endless puffed up negativity

hated it. eventually skipprd the last 10 minutes. there is nothing interesting in banging on about an event or person with no wit or anecdote to enliven the diatribe.

This audio isn't complete

This isn't the whole book. Where is the rest of it? I want a refund.