Columbine

Dave Cullen

Apr 2009 · Sold by Twelve

About this eBook

Ten years in the works, a masterpiece of reportage, this is the definitive account of the Columbine massacre, its aftermath, and its significance, from the acclaimed journalist who followed the story from the outset.
"The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . ."

So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year.

What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Expanded with a New Epilogue

Ratings and reviews

Lots of detail, lots of analysis. This is as much a book about criminal psychology as it is about the massacre itself. The first half of the book had a lot of description of the emotions of the victims and their families. The second half had a lot more analysis of the perpetrators. The paragraphs generally alternate between before the massacre, and after. It keeps the story interesting. I learned a LOT about Columbine, and was surprised at how much of what I knew was wrong thanks to the good old news media. If you have any interest in the massacre, in psychopaths and depression, in adolescent psychology and angst, then I can highly recommend this book. I'm giving it four starts (not five) because I thought a lot of the narrative was presented a little too melodramatically. But there's plenty of satisfying data and analysis to provide a decent balance.

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I too followed and researched this tragedy. Dave Cullen, in an effort to assert himself as the foremost authority on Columbine, strays from sharing facts and tends to insert his pet theory into the narrative. The problem is that it's HIS THEORY- not fact. He doesn't address fully the outside influences and causes if they don't mesh with his personal take on Harris and Klebold. This is very thorough, but Jeff Katz wrote an amazing book on this topic that deserves far more attention.

About the author

Dave Cullen is a journalist and author who has contributed to Slate, Salon, and the New York Times. He is considered the nation's foremost authority on the Columbine killers, and has also written extensively on Evangelical Christians, gays in the military, politics, and pop culture. A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Boulder, Cullen has won several writing awards, including a GLAAD Media Award, Society of Professional Journalism awards, and several Best of Salon citations.