Andrew Bevel is the financier on whom Vanner bases his character Benjamin Rask. Bevel wants to share the story of his wild financial successes with the public for the first time; in doing so he hopes to revive the entrepreneurial spirit foundational to America, a spirit Bevel believes is in decline. Bevel also hopes his autobiography will dispel the rumors about him and his wife Mildred Bevel (the inspiration for Helen Rask) started by Vanner’s bestselling 1937 roman à clef Bonds.

Bevel dies in 1938 before completing My Life with his ghostwriter, Ida Partenza, (who features in Book 3 and is not revealed as his ghostwriter until then), so the autobiography appears in its unfinished form.

Bevel is a fourth-generation New York financier. His great-grandfather William Trevor Bevel inaugurates the family profession in 1807 by capitalizing on the fallout of Thomas Jefferson’s moratorium on trade with Europe. Using his family property as collateral for a loan, he buys unsalable American goods at rock-bottom prices, holds them, and then resells them to Europe for a profit after the moratorium ends. Following this coup, William expands his ventures: He pioneers future contracts, begins offering loans at favorable rates, and trades those loans on a secondary market.