"At the height of the McCarthy period, writers were being hounded"

The quote by Irwin Shaw is describing the period of time in the 1950s referred to as the McCarthy period, which was a time of extreme fear and fear in the United States. During this period, Senator Joseph McCarthy led a campaign to root out supposed communists and other subversives in the government, the media, and other locations of society. As part of this project, authors were targeted and hounded by McCarthy and his advocates. Writers were implicated of being communists and went through intense examination and criticism. Many authors were blacklisted and had their careers messed up as a result of the McCarthy duration. The quote by Irwin Shaw is a pointer of the fear and fear that was widespread during this duration and the effect it had on authors and other members of society.