Three themes recur frequently in Shaw's short fiction. The first is the role of chance and accident in shaping human life. In "Small Saturday" Christopher meets and dates the girl who will become his wife only after both miss the chance to go out with others.
Unknown to them, a lusty Swiss flying into New York, a police bust of several con artists, and a middle-aged man's passion for a young actress have helped mold their destiny. In "Noises in the City" a man's affection for his pregnant wife is rekindled after he meets a man whose wife was murdered. The victim died when a stable husband and father went unaccountably berserk. In Shaw's world lives are changed by a thoughtless word, a careless glance, or an unplanned meeting.
Tales about people whose fates.....
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