Consider the Lobster Audiobook By David Foster Wallace cover art

Consider the Lobster

And Other Essays

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Consider the Lobster

By: David Foster Wallace
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, David Foster Wallace
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Essays Literary History & Criticism United States Nonfiction Funny
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Consider the Lobster

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    384
  • 4 Stars
    135
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    13
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    358
  • 4 Stars
    94
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    322
  • 4 Stars
    106
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    15

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Consider The Wallace

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love DFW

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!