Bill Bryson

A lifetime professional writer, Bryson has written several travel narratives, informational nonfiction, and fiction works. He describes himself throughout the book in self-deprecating terms. He is pudgy, accident prone, nonathletic, a sloppy sleeper, and a sarcastic cutup. Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1951. His father was a sportswriter, as his older brother Michael is to this day, so Bryson was raised in a writing family. He was educated at Drake University, and has since received several honorary degrees. He and his wife Cynthia have four children.

Throughout the book, Bryson sets himself up as the antithesis of the rough Australian environment. Where much of Australia is a harsh desert, Bryson is pudgy, where Australia's seas are challenging and hold many dangers, Bryson is clumsy and unathletic. He demonstrates this on each of the three trips in the book, but it is cast in particularly strong...