The book of Big Fish did not begin as a novel, but instead as small stories or vignettes that Wallace wrote in the short moments of quiet when his son was young. As he began to write more, he noticed “they were describing an arc of a whole life.” The book is told in three parts, chronicling Edward’s life. The stories are not told by Edward, though, but by Will from his memory of what Edward had told him. The stories begin with the day Edward was born, go chronologically through his death. The chapters are short and each is titled by the story it tells. The only exceptions are four chapters titled “My Father’s Death: Take 1-4.” 
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The book is heavily influenced by Greek and Roman myths and epic poems (hence the subtitle indicating its mythic proportions). Similar to Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey, Big Fish follows Edward on his a great adventure. The story is based in reality, but exaggerates and embellishes the truth. The Girl in the Water is like a mythological nymph, the Old Lady and the Eye is like the ancient Greek Grey Sisters who pass around an eye, and Edward almost gets trapped on his way out of Ashland, just as if he was trying to escape the underworld. The grandeur of these stories as well as the seamless transition from reality to fantasy also references the writing style of magical realism.  
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Read more from the author and his thoughts on the structure of the novel here in this interview.