The Troubled Air

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The Troubled Air
Author Irwin Shaw
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Set in New York City
Publisher Random House
Publication date
1951
Preceded by The Young Lions  
Followed by Lucy Crown  

The Troubled Air is a novel by Irwin Shaw first published in 1951. It is a story of the radio industry (at a time when shows were produced live) set in 1950, during the blacklisting of McCarthyism. [1]

Irwin Shaw American writer

Irwin Shaw was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: The Young Lions (1948), about the fate of three soldiers during World War II, made into a film of the same name starring Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, and Rich Man, Poor Man (1970), about the fate of two siblings after World War II. In 1976, it was made into a popular miniseries starring Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, and Susan Blakely.

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1951.

Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority, compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as not being acceptable to those making the list. A blacklist can list people to be discriminated against, refused employment, or censored. As a verb, blacklist can mean to put an individual or entity on such a list.

Contents

Plot summary

The plot centers around Clement Archer, the director of a successful weekly radio program, who is told by the producers and sponsors to fire four actors and one musician working on the show because of alleged Communist sympathizing. To save the show, and because of his own conscience, Archer wins a two-week deferral and starts his own investigation. Eventually, one of the contributors commits suicide, two of the others betray Archer, and the careers of all others are ruined. Archer reconciles with his family.

Background

For the novel, Shaw draws on his own experiences in working for the radio with Himan Brown. [2] Matching a sub-plot of the novel, Shaw was named as a Communist in 1951 by the right-wing pamphlet Red Channels "because he signed a petition calling on the US Congress to review the convictions of fellow screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson". [3] Neither House Un-American Activities Committee nor Senator McCarthy are explicitly mentioned in the novel. According to Shaw himself, he "wanted to show the decent and average American faced with social pressures of which he doesn’t approve". [4]

Himan Brown American radio producer

Himan Brown, also known as Hi Brown, was an American producer of radio and television programs. Over seven decades, Brown produced more than 30,000 radio shows, including for major radio networks and syndication. He worked with such actors as Helen Hayes, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles.

Dalton Trumbo American screenwriter and novelist

James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist who scripted many award-winning films including Roman Holiday, Exodus, Spartacus, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. One of the Hollywood Ten, he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry. He, along with the other members of the Hollywood Ten and hundreds of other industry professionals, was subsequently blacklisted by that industry.

John Howard Lawson was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first president of the Writers Guild of America, West after the Screen Writers Guild divided into two regional organizations.

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References

  1. ↑ "The Troubled Air by Irwin Shaw : Irwin Shaw's provocative classic about courage and morality at the height of McCarthyism". Openroadmedia.com. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  2. ↑ "Shaw, Irwin. The Troubled Air. New York: Random, 1951". Harryheuser.com. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "IRWIN SHAW The Troubled Air (1951)". Bentleyrumble.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Interviewed by George Plimpton and John. "Irwin Shaw, The Art of Fiction No. 4". Theparisreview.org. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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