I split reading this between my iPad and the hardcover edition. A touchscreen ebook reader is the ideal way to read David Foster Wallace, because definitions to the many words you don't quite know are only a fingerpress away, and navigating the footnotes (up to three layers deep) is so much easier with a "back" button. On the down side, the collection's final essay, "Host", is missing from the ebook because it relies on quirky (actually, rather annoying) formatting for the footnotes. So readers of the ebook are missing out on about 20% of the content. Yikes.

Anyway, I enjoyed several of these essays quite a lot. "The View From Mrs. Thompson's" is an insightful reflection on 9/11. The title essay, "Consider the Lobster" is an amusing and engaging exploration of the ethics of killing sentient creatures for food. "Up, Simba" yields insight into politics and the campaign trail via examples from McCain's 2000 presidential campaign. And the aforementioned "Host" reveals a lot about conservative talk radio without being judgmental.

It's a shame that there won't be any more essays from DFW. He is missed.