"To Air is Human" by Bjorn Turoque

Book Review

To Air Is Human, subtitled: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist was written by Bjorn Turoque with help from his alter-ego, Dan Crane. Will mild-mannered software technician by day Crane propel himself through air guitar competition, using his Turoque persona, to become the super rock star he envisioned in boyhood dreams? Can air guitar bring the world to peace? Who invented air guitar? Do air guitarists actually have groupies and roadies? Why would an Asian air guitarist name himself C-Diddy to model himself after a hip hop artist? Who came up with the idea of air guitar competitions? What next, air drum contests? The answer to all those questions can be found in To Air Is Human. Well, maybe not all of them. If you do not know anything about the World Air Guitar competitions this book is a good place to start.

A much asked questions to contestants from reporters is "Why air guitar?" Crane might answer, "Why not?" Turoque will go into a lengthy answer about nihilism and Nietzsche. To Air Is Human is a fun book to read. Each chapter starts with a quotation. The quotes run the gamut from dead philosophers, authors, rock stars and characters from popular movies. There are boxed drawings giving "Air Guitar 101" lessons. If you use your thumb on the bottom right side of the book to quickly flip the pages you will get a stick figure rock star performance in the manner that animated cartoons were first drawn. Turoque may not have name recognition that Crane yearns, but Crane's writing and humor could give him a whole new career. He is bored with the aggravating and tedious world of software.