 What best summarizes what the author has to say about William Shawn?
At the table are Gill; William Shawn, then editor of The New Yorker ; and the reclusive English writer Henry Green. Shawn--"with his usual hushed delicacy of speech and manner"--inquires of the novelist whether he could possibly reveal what prompted the creation of such an exquisite work. Both these memoirs must be read by everyone--everyone, that is, who takes seriously the important business of sorting out precisely how he or she feels about The New Yorker , then and now. Moreover, Mehta writes as Shawn's adoring acolyte, whereas Ross writes as his longtime adulterous lover. Just knowing that Mrs. Shawn is still alive adds a certain tension to reading much of what this Other Woman chooses to divulge.
 He was a respectable man with complexities that weren't always obvious and is hard to pin down based on the stories told of him.
 He had a magnetic personality, as shown in the way Ross and Mehta gravitated towards him.  While quiet on the outside, he was a man prone to adultery.  He was a respectable man with complexities that weren't always obvious and is hard to pin down based on the stories told of him.  He lived a simple life and worked hard to publish his magazine.