In 1976, Hellman's publisher, Little Brown, canceled its contract to publish a book of Diana Trilling's essays because Trilling refused to delete four passages critical of Hellman. When Trilling's collection appeared the next year, in 1977, the "New York Times" critic felt the need to posit his own preference for the "simple confession of error" Hellman made in "Scoundrel Time" for her "acquiescence in Stalinism" to what he described as Trilling's excuses for her own behavior during McCarthyism. Arthur L. Herman, however, later described "Scoundrel Time" as "breathtaking dishonesty".