Perspective

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. The interviews are written up as if they are verbatim transcripts, though in actuality it is not known whether or not this is the case (journalistic standards being somewhat different in that day).

The perspective is of a person at the height of his career looking back on his life and intending to convey not only the...