diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3b0f8df..3ae7cc0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,40 @@
 [![Tips](http://img.shields.io/gittip/jaredhanson.png)](https://www.gittip.com/jaredhanson/)
 
 
+Crane is a [message queue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_queue)
+middleware layer for [Node](http://nodejs.org).  Applications can be constructed
+by using _middleware_ and defining _routes_.
+
+This architecture has been proven effective by [Express](http://expressjs.com/),
+which provides HTTP middleware.  Crane adopts this approach, repurposing it
+for use with message queues, allowing workers to be built quickly and easily,
+using patterns familiar to Node.js developers.
+
+## Install
+
+    $ npm install crane
+    
+## Usage
+
+    var crane = require('crane');
+    var app = crane();
+    
+    app.work('tasks/email', function(msg, next) {
+      console.log('sending email to: ' + msg.body.to);
+      msg.ack();
+    });
+
+## Adapters
+
+Adapters are used to connect to message queues, receiving messages and
+dispatching those messages to the application for processing.
+
+The following table lists commonly used strategies:
+
+|Adapter                                           |Developer                                       |
+|--------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
+|[AMQP](https://github.com/jaredhanson/crane-amqp) |[Jared Hanson](https://github.com/jaredhanson)  |
+
 ## Tests
 
     $ npm install