Hahah I just looked at that for the first time, and the picture of Stephenson there is hilarious (it's the one on the back of the novel where he's looking all tough). I get the feeling that he might be a bit of a joker, or at least have a pretty good sense of humor. He can write humorously, that's for sure. Also, take a look at the inside back cover--there's a picture of him as a little kid reading about codes, which I found pretty amusing.