Perspective

The Happy Hooker is written from the point of view of its author, Xaviera Hollander. She uses the first-person perspective for the entire book. The entire book is written in the past tense except for the Epilogue, which is written in present tense. For the bulk of the book, Xaviera recollects events that happened to her in the years directly prior to the writing, the late 1960s and early 1970s. The first few chapters deal with her childhood. The epilogue is set in the present, which is 2002 at the time of the writing.

The story is told through a mixture of exposition and dialogue, with exposition making up the bulk of the action. Quotes are used if particularly important or memorable, but in most cases Xaviera just writes her recollection of events without attributing much dialogue to other characters. Some chapters deal more with lists and essay-like explanations...