Some Remarks on David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed

List of the Day

We lost a good one back in mid-September, and for better or for worse, it sometimes requires death for us to get around to experiencing great art. After reading our obit, I was kind of ashamed to say I hadn't read much of David Foster Wallace's work. I had always been intrigued by him, having sampled a couple stories, but after his tragic passing, I picked up Consider the Lobster, his book of essays covering myriad topics from pornography to politics. It was an enthralling read, one that inspired me to get some more DFW in my life (I'll be reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again over the holiday break, and have been scrounging the Internet for speeches and articles and more), and one that made me want to share his greatness with others. Here, then, are Consider the Lobster's 10 stories in order of my preference, with a small description of each to boot. Think of it as a skimpy-book-report-turned-recommendation-list:

Big Red Son
In which our correspondent ponders autocastration, takes a trip to the Adult Video News Awards, and keeps the company of people with names like Dick Filth and Max Hardcore.

The View from Mrs. Thompson's
In which our correspondent experiences the events of 9/11/2001 through the lens of Bloomington, Ill.

Host
In which our correspondent ostensibly profiles a conservative radio talk show host with an OJ Simpson fixation but really examines why we, as a people, listen to the things that we do on the airwaves.

How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart
In which our correspondent ostensibly reviews tennis superstar Tracy Austin's biography but really examines why sports bios are so seductive and disappointing.

Consider the Lobster
In which our correspondent travels to the Maine Lobster Festival and wrestles with the ethical implications of cooking and eating the title crustacean.

Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky
In which our correspondent examines another man's examinations of one of literature's most iconic writers while simultaneously having an existential crisis on the page and asking some very big questions of fiction writing in general.

Up Simba
In which our correspondent spends several days on the road with John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, of which the parallels to the current president-elect's are more than notable.

Some Remarks on Kafka's Funniness from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed
In which our correspondent argues for the hilarity of Franz Kafka, in the shortest piece in the book, which is kind of funny in its own right, considering the title.

Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think
In which our correspondent juxtaposes the "Great Male Narcissists," Norman Mailer, John Updike and Philip Roth.

Authority and American Usage
In which our correspondent reviews Bryan A. Garner's A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, defines "SNOOT," digs very deep into all sorts of things you may or may not have already known about language and basically shows off his extreme word nerdiness.