Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism

“This volume represents a significant and much needed intervention into literary studies, cultural studies, and media studies. … In an era where anti-capitalist biases dominate academia and media, Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism offers a refreshing, substantiated counterpoint, proving that libertarian analysis can unlock profound understandings of texts and societies. I strongly recommend it to scholars, students, and anyone interested in the intersections of economics and culture.” (Michael Rectenwald, Rekt, mrectenwald.substack.com, July 31, 2026) 

“The number of genres and subjects covered by this volume is broad and spans centuries, and any reader is likely to come away provoked to thoughtfulness and contemplation on many interesting questions. ... the volume’s breadth of genres and media forms is to be commended. The field of economically literate media analysis is vast and unharvested. This volume will no doubt serve as a useful template and source of inspiration for those who desire to expand the field.” (Zachary Yost, Journal of Markets & Morality, Vol. 28 (3), July 31, 2026)

“The essays gathered in this volume celebrate his achievements and make libertarian literary and media criticism accessible to a wide audience. This superb volume is essential reading for anyone interested in how literature and film can illuminate the principles that enable human flourishing.” (Caroline Breashears, libertarianism.org, August 25, 2025)

“It is heartening to see that Paul Cantor’s scholarship has continued to inspire and inform scholars across disciplinary boundaries and attract them to literary and media criticism. It is to be hoped that this volume will help inaugurate a new trend of market-friendly analysis in this area.” (Jason Jewell, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 29 (1), 2025)

“With Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism: Essays in Memory of Paul A. Cantor, Jo Ann Cavallo has achieved something increasingly rare in our splintered intellectual landscape: she has woven together disparate threads of literary inquiry and economic understanding into a coherent tapestry. This is no sterile exercise in academic cross-pollination but rather an urgent recognition that the imagination and the marketplace have always collaborated in the unfolding human story. ... In an age of ideological calcification, such work is at once dangerous, necessary, and irreplaceable.” (Allen Mendenhall, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 28 (3), October, 2025)

“What comes through in the essays is an extended argument for why Cantor’s approach is not just important, but portable; young scholars can use this approach to ensure their own scholarly flourishing and success.” (Michael C. Munger, The Independent Review, Vol. 30 (2), 2025)

“Many of the great stories take on renewed life—Shakespeare’s plays, especially, but also Jonson’s Alchemist, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Pinocchio, H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds (which gets a rather sinister undertone of the Technostate), and even, with astonishing effrontery, Hesse’s Siddhartha. Likewise, pop culture gets rousing re-readings (entirely in Cantor’s own genial tone of full enjoyment and gentle debunking of contemporary attitudes). ... Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism may be the seed of a more liberal and humane movement in literary and humanistic studies.” (Frederick Turner, Cosmos and Taxis, cosmosandtaxis.org, Vol. 13 (7-8), 2025)

“My deepest gratitude to Jo Ann Cavallo for bringing this collection to my attention. I heartily recommend it to my readers!” (Chris Sciabarra, Notablog, notablog.net, May 16, 2025)

“It is tempting to lament how few public intellectuals today can combine literary criticism with economic rigour. But perhaps it is better to be grateful that Paul Cantor did so, and to be inspired by his example.” (Sebastian Wang, The Libertarian Alliance, libertarianism.uk, April 2, 2025)

“Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism is not only a well-deserved homage to the late Paul Cantor but also a collection of worthy essays which will be of interest to scholars and non-scholars alike. ... the book, which will sharpen the reader's critical views on art and entertainment by reeling off art and entertainment's topical view on economic liberty and the free market.” (Thomas Baumert, Economic Affairs, Vol. 45 (2), 2025)

“The field of economically literate media analysis is vast and unharvested. This volume will no doubt serve as a useful template and source of inspiration for those who desire to expand the field.” (Zachary Yost, Journal of Markets & Morality, Vol. 28 (3), July 31, 2026)

“This volume represents a significant and much needed intervention into literary studies, cultural studies, and media studies. One might refer to the paradigm that it represents as a New Economic Criticism. This volume remedies the lopsided and exclusive focus on capitalism as exploitative and degrading by bringing sound economic thinking to bear on interesting cultural artifacts. All these essays display originality, high-level scholarship, and insight.” (Michael Rectenwald, Rekt, mrectenwald.substack.com, July 31, 2026)