Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (2005) is a collection of essays by novelist David Foster Wallace. It is also the title of one of the essays, which was published in Gourmet magazine in 2004. The title alludes to Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher. Content The list of essays is as follows: "Big Red Son" Wallace's account of his visit to the 15th edition of the AVN Awards, an event that has been dubbed the Academy Awards of pornographic film, and its associated AVN Expo. Originally published in the September 1998 issue of Premiere magazine as "Neither Adult Nor Entertainment" under the pseudonyms Willem R. deGroot and Matt Rundlet. "Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think" A review of John Updike's novel Toward the End of Time. Originally published as "John Updike, Champion Literary Phallocrat, Drops One; Is This Finally the End for Magnificent Narcissists?" in the October 12, 1997 issue of The New York Observer. "Some Remarks on Kafka's Funniness from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed" Text of speech given by David Foster Wallace in March 1998 at a symposium sponsored by the PEN American Center in New York City to celebrate the publication of a new translation of Franz Kafka's 1920s novel The Castle by Schocken Books. Originally published as "Laughing with Kafka" in the July 1998 issue of Harper's Magazine. "Authority and American Usage" A 62-page review of Bryan A. Garner's A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. Wallace applies George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" to grammar and the conditions of class and power in millennial American communication. While discussing the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammar, Wallace digresses to discuss the legitimacy of Ebonics as opposed to "white male" standard English. Originally published as "Tense Present: Democracy, English and Wars over Usage" in the April 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine. "The View from Mrs. Thompson's" Wallace's account of September 11 attacks as he experienced it in his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois, where he taught English at Illinois State University. To the surprise of many of his readers, Wallace refers to some of his neighbors as fellow church members. Originally published in the October 25, 2001 issue of Rolling Stone. "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart" A scathing review of tennis star Tracy Austin's autobiography, extending into a general critique of the mass-produced ghostwritten