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Consider the Lobster (A Story from Consider the Lobster)

By: David Foster Wallace
Narrated by: David Foster Wallace, Robert Petkoff
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Publisher's summary

Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of a vicious presidential race, plunging into the wars between dictionary writers, or confronting the World's Largest Lobster Cooker at the annual Maine Lobster Festival, Wallace projects a quality of thought that is uniquely his and a voice as powerful and distinct as any in American letters.

©2017 David Foster Wallace (P)2017 Hachette Audio
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What listeners say about Consider the Lobster (A Story from Consider the Lobster)

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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting but rather dated

David Foster Wallace wrote interesting essays, however some of the topics in this book didn’t quite resonate well with international reader. Some were too political, and felt dated as it was written in early 2000. But some topics were really interesting and worth listening too.

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An odd beginning but an enjoyable ride.

Excellent narration! and overall enjoy experience with each essay. Do I found myself hooked to the inner workings of the authors mind.

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1 person found this helpful

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Good collection of his writings in one place

Performance is meh only because DFW narrates some of this work which is footnoted differently than the work the other narrator does. Other than that this was great.

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David Foster Wallace has the heart od god and the

There are so many essays in this collections of essays that you might never forget, like the one about 911 and the one regarding the biography of Dostoevsky. He was really the American treasure.

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Consider The Wallace

Narrator mislabeled: DFW with Robert Petkoff. Still a great collection. Rest In Peace Dave Wallace

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10 people found this helpful

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Brilliant writing

DFW is brilliant, witty, poignant and insightful. I highly suggest skipping the first story Big Red Son and checking out some of the others - The View from Mrs. Thompson’s or Up, Simba first. I am no prude but was pretty put off by aspects of Big Red Son and nearly DNF’d, which would have been a shame. The Audio formatting is pretty wonky and I would have preferred the chapters to have titles for easier skipping around or re-listening.

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Perfect.

This is a great pick if you like to pop in and out on an audiobook. Entertaining essays on everything from the adult film industry to grammar.

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4 people found this helpful

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A great way to experience the genius of DFW!

As much as I admired and enjoyed Infinite Jest, I could not make it through. It was just too dense and hard to follow. Especially in audio form where you cannot just flip back pages to remind yourself of characters and things.

But I feel like this book has lots of the wisdom and humor that you get in Infite Jest while being much more accessible.

Ill admit setting this aside for a bit during the very long MCCain piece but I am so glad I went back to it.

The Consider the Lobster piece alone is worth the time investment. Wow, what a great essay, or whatever it is.

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4 people found this helpful

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Two extremes of writing

Petkoff gives a poor performance compared to Wallace. Wallace reads they way he writes, petkoff reads some areas so fast that you lose so much information that you can’t keep up and end up having to rewind.

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7 people found this helpful

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Love DFW

I just wonder how he’d feel about society today if he hadn’t left us when he did. RIP.

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