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| To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist | 
| Authors: Bjorn Turoque, Dan Crane
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $8.01
You Save: $5.99 (43%)
New (6) from $8.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 1147191
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5 x 0.7
Dewey Decimal Number: 787.87092
ASIN: B000LMPL6A
Publication Date: August 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
How an average musician put aside his "there" guitar and reinvented himself as Björn Türoque, the take-no-prisoners future of air guitar.
The true story of how mildly successful guitarist and New York Times writer Dan Crane relinquished his instrument and became Björn Türoque (pronounced "b-yorn too-RAWK"), the second greatest air guitarist in the nation. This exploration of the international air guitar sub-culture addresses the issue of dedicating oneself to an invisible art in order to achieve the ultimate goal of "airness"-that is, when air guitar transcends the "real" art that it imitates and becomes an art form in and of itself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
A Rock Solid Book October 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bjorn Turoque and "To Air is Human" have done with air guitar what Al Gore and "An inconvenient Truth" have done with climate change.
This book is quite difficult to put down, as it drills you to your seat: leaving you to wonder why you're not the one rocking on an invisible instrument.
Great book. Couldn't put it down. July 4, 2007
When reading this book lovers of music will appreciate the passion that Bjorn and his fellow air guitarists have for all things music. Lovers of peace will respect the greater message that air guitar promotes - that if every person in the world were to hold an air guitar then they would not be able to carry a gun. Bjorn Turoque's air guitar journey which started innocently enough but then quickly escalated to odd proportions is both riveting and hilarious.
 An improbable but ultimate quite funny book October 6, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was in a hurry to pick up some books for a transatlantic flight and I picked this book up, without much expectations. After all, how good could a book be about one man's quest to become the world champion in "air guitar" play? Then I started turning the pages...
In "To Air Is Human: One Man's Quest To Become The World's Greatest Air Guitarist" (304 pages), author Dan Crane brings the improbable tale of how he decided on a whim to enter the 2003 NY regionals and subsequently the world championships, and what happened next. The book is "co-authored" by Crane's alter-ego, the air guitarist Bjorn Turoque (get it?). With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Crane tells of his encounters with (semi)celebraties like Carson Daly and others along his way to try and become the world champ. Most of the tales are quite funny, which is what kept me turning the pages. Some of his observations are so off-kilter (such as "Air guitar, I had learned, is about commitment. It's not unlike love, really") that I just couldn't stop smiling as I was reading. Many of the better moments in the book are about the many side-characters that pop up.
In the end, this book was much better than I expected it. Of course, I had low expectations to begin with. But this book is funny and irreverent from begin to end. If you are in the mood for that, this book is for you.
The Dubious Has Been Converted September 19, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought I had no interest in Air Guitar. I just didn't get it. (I'm
referring to the rise of public air guitar competitions, not unselfconscious, instinctive standing-on-the-bed performances). I couldn't believe it wasn't an ironic, nostalgia-addict-generation trend that would flare up, then die out. I thought it sprang from the same impulse that drives people to watch endless episodes of their seventies childhood tv shows.
After Crane's hilarious page turner I am schooled. I won't say what the impulses are that leads one, or at least the subject of this book, to perform in front of an audience with nothing but their bare hands, because that would spoil the author's eventual revelations, and the adventure of coming to those revelations with him is part of the fun of this read. And it is a pretty much non-stop fun read.
But not entirely airy; like any good book it taps into the human condition, as the title promises.
Crane had me hooked from the first competition; I read the book practically in one sitting. He's got perfect comic timing, an addictive voice, and an immensely likable persona --even if you're not drawn to any iteration of [...], narcissistic rock n' roll endeavors, air or otherwise, you'll find it hard not to identify with Crane's struggle to find some place in life that isn't freighted with self-seriousness, corporate-banality, or deadening adult legitimacy. It's a little bit like Bridget Jones in that it makes you feel better about your own [...] dissapointments.
Fellow female [is that an oxymoron? ed.] readers: there's a great scene at a strip club that lifts the veil over what really goes on in there (and in the male brains) that will have you horrified but hanging on every word. Scandalous! Even, maybe, sad.
Another added bonus: for anyone who's been feeling kindof out of it (suddenly finding oneself with children, or locked at work, or locked into a disturbingly lasting depressive stupor) To Air also serves as a crash course in what the kids are up to these days. With quick, deft, lol sketches, Crane captures a demographic ethos in an inclusive way that leaves you feeling cheerfully in the know.
My only complaint: I wish he'd given more than just tiny peeks into his failing relationship. The book returns repeatedly with little butterfly-wing brushes to interpersonal juicyness issues -- is Bjorn stealing away from commitment and Air Guitar is just the getaway car, or there another reason the romance ends? -- but never fully explains what happens.
But maybe this was enough generous self-exposure for one book. If so, I look forward to the next.
AIR-inspiring... September 16, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bjorn Turoque has given his audience a Roque solid, chAIRsmatic, and hilarious tale of his determination and perseverance to not only become the "World's Greatest Air Guitarist", but to also emulate the true spirit and message of Air Guitar - World Peace.
I'm eager to see Air Guitar and it's competitive circuit sweep the nation and hope that America will embrace it as the Finns have!
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