Robin Gerster is the author of several books, including Big-noting- the heroic theme in Australian war writing (1987), Hotel Asia (1995), and Legless in Ginza- orientating Japan (1999). In the 1990s he taught at the University of Tokyo, holding the Chair in Australian Studies. He is currently Associate Professor in the School of English, Communications and Performance Studies at Monash University, and lives in Melbourne with his wife and two sons.