They're fancy talkers about themselves, writers. If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.

Hellman's papers are held at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Hellman denied that the character was based on Gardiner. Endorsing this view the editors of the New Republic wrote that "there are more important questions than Trotsky's guilt".