Columbine by Dave Cullen

Let me start of this review with a confession: I have a weird, extreme intrigue in school shootings. Now, before you say to yourself, ‘holy crap is this chick going to shoot up my school?!’, let me tell you that this intrigue in school shootings is because I’ve always been terrified it will happen to me. I’ve had nightmares about it happening to me in high school (even though I’ve graduated), or at work, or any crowded dwellings. Is this irrational? Yes. Does this have anything to do with this review? Again, yes. Because of my, uh, interest in shootings, I’ve read a few books on them (you may refer back to the Jodi Picoult post for an example). However, none of the books I’ve read can even compare to David Cullen’s ‘Columbine’.

            Let’s start with the obvious: this book is about the shootings of Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. Cullen not only gives you the second by second path of destruction made by Eric Harris and Dylan Kebold, but he goes deeper into the psychosis of the situation. If ever in the future you have any questions about what happened that day, the days leading up to it, or what became of the families, David Cullen is your man. He was not only at Columbine that awful day, but he has spent the last decade researching every last spec of information that has been somewhat related to Columbine. He’s poured over the boy’s journals (which he shares copies of some of the pages), spoken with families, victims, townspeople, psychologists, FBI agents… the list goes on.

            What I really like about Cullen’s book is that he lets you know from the beginning that there are several complete distinctions between the two boys. You cannot look at them as one entity but rather as two separate boys who did it for different reasons. And he has the facts to back it up. I also liked that he gives you different perspectives: how it felt for the victims, the law enforcement working on the case, the boy’s families, the media (and therefore the nation)…etc. He also discusses how the events at Columbine had single-handedly changed: school policies across the country, security protocols, and police tactics, and more. Although it’s known famously, Cullen shines a whole new light on Columbine.

            Being a reporter, Cullen can tell a story with ease and great composure. I’ll be the first to admit that this book is lengthy, but I didn’t want to put it down once. This is definitely not a light read, so keep that in mind if you ever pick it up. If you’re looking for something serious and in-depth then this is the book for you! 91%