The story is told as if it is a first-person account by the fictional character Larry Livingston. In actual fact, the history is that of a real trader, Jesse Livermore, who is interviewed by Edwin Lefevre, a journalist for The Saturday Evening Post. The chapters are originally published as a series of articles in the Post and are later compiled into a book. While it is impossible to know how closely the language presented in the articles resembles the original interviews, the distinct personality of Jesse Livermore certainly makes itself felt.