Who is Lizer Biggs?

That was the first question I was asked by my family. They wanted to know more about his character, his back story. I don't really get around to this much until towards the middle of the book. In retrospect, I could have written it differently - building his character and back story from the beginning but I liked the opportunity it gave me to weave a little mystery and concentrate instead on the particulars of his unique journey. In one sense, he is an idealized version of myself.