Crane, Dan 1971-

(Björn Türoque)

PERSONAL: Born 1971.

ADDRESSES: Home— New York, NY. E-mail— rockstar@aireoke.com

CAREER: Writer and musician. Former software producer.

WRITINGS

(As Björn Türoque) To Air Is Human: One Man’s Quest to Become the World’s Greatest Air Guitarist, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to Esquire, Slate, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

SIDELIGHTS: A software producer turned freelance writer, Dan Crane became infatuated in his early thirties with the highly theatrical performance of air guitar. He created an alter ego named Björn Türoque and took to the competitive air-guitar circuit, over the next three years garnering a number of high finishes. Türoque earned notoriety as an air guitarist for a number of television performances, a role in the 2006 documentary Air Guitar Nation, and a string of prominent second-place finishes at international competitions. Crane chronicled his journey from “there” musician (he plays the guitar in a faux French rock band) to air-guitar rock star in To Air Is Human: One Man’s Quest to Become the World’s Greatest Air Guitarist, written as Türoque. The memoir also explores the activity’s cultural impact and the reasons why competitions draw large numbers of participants and fans. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted the book’s “hilarious detail,” commenting that Crane “easily and accurately captures the telling elements of what is uniquely a visual event.” In an article for Kirkus Reviews, a contributor described To Air Is Human as an “absurd yet contemplative chronicle that will charm anyone who believes in rocking hard with a guitar—or with nothing at all.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

BOOKS

Crane, Dan (As Björn Türoque), To Air Is Human: One Man’s Quest to Become the World’s Greatest Air Guitarist, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006, review of To Air Is Human, p. 565.

Publishers Weekly, July 17, 2006, review of To Air Is Human, p. 154.

ONLINE

Dan Crane Home Page, http://www.dancrane.com (March 12, 2007).

Björn Türoque Home Page, http://www.bjornturoque.com (January 16, 2007).