Freedom from Culture presents eleven more of the polished and incisive essays on Canadian literature and culture that have made John Metcalf a household name in households of the better sort. His subjects range over the dangers of state subsidy, anthologizing, the inflation of reputations by academics desperate to invent new ancestors, and the lunacy of affirmative action in literature. The collection also features loving illuminations of fiction’s interior workings. These essays are required reading for anyone interested in writing in Canada.