David Foster Wallace
Little, Brown and Company (2005)

Reviewed by: Jessi Hafer

Those already familiar with David Foster Wallace will not need much convincing, just a reminder that this book is out there, and you need to get it.

For those who have never read anything by David Foster Wallace, allow me to explain. This is one of the few authors that can do both fiction and non-fiction well. He is one of the few that sends me to my dictionary now and then (this means two things: one is that he’s eloquent and good at the word thing; second, and perhaps more important, he makes the reader *want* to know what he’s talking about enough to go for the dictionary). He’s certainly eclectic, but whatever his topic, his approach is analytical, non-stuffy, unique, honest, respectful, full of literary device, insightful, full of footnotes [1], hilarious, and nothing short of brilliant. Wallace stays true to character in all the essays of “Consider the Lobster.”

Take, for example, “Up, Simba,” which vaguely reminds me of “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72,” by Hunter S. Thompson. Wallace follows Senator John McCain on his 2000 presidential campaign and ends up considering what types of people become interested in politics and why, what it means to be a leader vs. a salesman, and the personality traits of various candidates. Furthermore, Wallace is subjected to “coffee that tastes like hot water with a brown crayon in it.”

For “Consider the Lobster,” Gourmet Magazine assigned Wallace to attend the Maine Lobster Festival: “The enormous, pungent, and extremely well-marketed Maine Lobster Festival is held every late July in the state’s midcoast region… the nerve stem of Maine’s lobster industry,” teases the reader with what is to come, though the reader probably won’t realize it until after reading the essay. Descriptions of the tourism, locals, and the festivities break into a thought-provoking, heavily-biological analysis on the ethics of lobster preparation (Wallace is an omnivore; your reviewer is not). I will add that I was impressed/shocked that Gourmet Magazine ran such piece, and I think this is a testament of Wallace’s abilities.

“Host” is about talk radio and, specifically, Southern California’s KFL talk show host John Ziegler. This sneaky expose on media fragmentation (among other things) is a must-read for anyone interested in media analysis/criticism.

For me, the most difficult piece to get through was “Authority and American Usage,” a review of Bryan A Garner’s “A Dictionary of Modern American Usage.” Wallace ends up waxing on prescriptivism vs. descriptivism in English usage and giving a very funny recount of growing up as a SNOOT. This is a longer essay, but certainly worth the perseverance.

Though some of the essays are on very heavy topics indeed, Wallace’s sense of humor and observant-ness keep the reader at ease. You’d be hard pressed to find nonfiction that is more fun to read and more fulfilling than David Foster Wallace’s, and Consider the Lobster is no exception.

[1] Your reviewer never really bothered to read footnotes until she started reading David Foster Wallace.