The book's title is reminiscent of two short stories by You Have Seen Their Faces (1937; ร่วมกับ Erskine Caldwell) in The New Massegs: "You Can Make Out Their Voices" (March 1931) and "You Have Seen the Heads" (April 1931). The former story Hallie Flanagan (later director of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project) made into a popular play under the title "Can You Hear Their Voices?