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A review by toggle_fow
Columbine by Dave Cullen
5.0
I read this book third in a trio of school shooter books. I should have read it first.
Columbine is nothing if not thorough. It takes you moment-by-moment through the massacre, from the many different angles of those experiencing it. It shows the aftermath, as Cullen experienced it as a reporter there at the time. It analyzes the misinformation spread by police and the media, and the police response both on the day of the attack and throughout the investigation that followed.
All of this is interspersed by chapters following Eric and Dylan, the two shooters, forward in time. In pursuit of the ever-present question "why?", the author profiles their background, analyzes their thought process through the many writings and videos they left behind, and tracks their development as they developed their murder plan.
It's a great book. I say that for two specific reasons.
1) As I said, it's informative and very thorough. However, I've read some nonfiction in my time - many informative books - and they usually take me deliberate focus to get through. I don't set down a nonfiction book, no matter how fascinating the subject matter, and think Boy, I can't wait to have time to pick that up again. Only with this book, I did think that. I was riveted. It was both fascinating informationally and compelling as a reader. I was educated and hooked at the same time.
2) The focus on the victims. The previous two school shooter books I read were VERY shooter-focused. That was their point. But this book introduces you to all the victims. To their parents. It tells their stories as they experienced them on the day of the shooting, and then walks with them through the aftermath. Each one is treated with compassion and respect, and the author is able to portray their reality as people not as faceless "victims."
I'm going to remember what I read here for a very long time.
Columbine is nothing if not thorough. It takes you moment-by-moment through the massacre, from the many different angles of those experiencing it. It shows the aftermath, as Cullen experienced it as a reporter there at the time. It analyzes the misinformation spread by police and the media, and the police response both on the day of the attack and throughout the investigation that followed.
All of this is interspersed by chapters following Eric and Dylan, the two shooters, forward in time. In pursuit of the ever-present question "why?", the author profiles their background, analyzes their thought process through the many writings and videos they left behind, and tracks their development as they developed their murder plan.
It's a great book. I say that for two specific reasons.
1) As I said, it's informative and very thorough. However, I've read some nonfiction in my time - many informative books - and they usually take me deliberate focus to get through. I don't set down a nonfiction book, no matter how fascinating the subject matter, and think Boy, I can't wait to have time to pick that up again. Only with this book, I did think that. I was riveted. It was both fascinating informationally and compelling as a reader. I was educated and hooked at the same time.
2) The focus on the victims. The previous two school shooter books I read were VERY shooter-focused. That was their point. But this book introduces you to all the victims. To their parents. It tells their stories as they experienced them on the day of the shooting, and then walks with them through the aftermath. Each one is treated with compassion and respect, and the author is able to portray their reality as people not as faceless "victims."
I'm going to remember what I read here for a very long time.