The book is written in first person from Johnny Cash's perspective. The point of view is very limited and the reader learns only those things that Johnny knows, and is further limited in that the reader learns only those things that Johnny is willing to share. One important point related to the perspective is that Johnny denies some of the stories that are commonly repeated about him, gives different versions of some stories from those in other literary and film works, and completely ignores some things. For example, Johnny says that many people believe that he was in prison and want to know what he did that landed him there.