A good argument can be made that this essay collection is Wallace's most openly critical. He criticizes writers and politicians and Americans in general, but not senselessly, and not without focus. If you draw the themes from each story, a dominant criticism emerges: The criticism against thoughtlessness and the lack of understanding we often have of ourselves.
In the literary-critical essays, Wallace criticizes the dehumanization of Dostoevsky, the blatant misogyny of Updike and his obsession with his phallus, the sterile, meaningless autobiography of his favorite tennis star, Tracy Austin, and the frustration he has with students who don't laugh at Kafka's jokes. All these have a thematic connection, that artists are not making art, and audiences aren't ready to interact with art. What we see is a frustration and despair that Wallace suffers, seeing so clearly that no one is doing the one thing that he feels is most important on the earth, namely empathy through artistic experience.
Political criticism is also well represented in the book, especially in "Consider the Lobster," in which the arguments about the ethical treatment of animals are used to show how senseless and foundless the American sense of morality really is. He also shows how impressionable Americans are to propaganda in the Mrs. Thompson story, and how manipulative and inhumane politicians are willing to become to achieve power, in "Up, Simba."
Wallace is calling for a revival of the American intellect. To the religious right, Wallace seems to say, "Wake up! You're being manipulated." And to the atheistic left, Wallace seems to say, "Wake up! You're just as guilty as they are."
