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62nd out of 85 books
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41 voters
No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine
On April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, two seniors at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, walked into their school and shot to death twelve students and one teacher, and wounded many others. It was the worst single act of murder at a school in U.S. history. Few people knew Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris better than Brooks Brown. Brown and Klebold were be...more
Paperback, 277 pages
Published
October 23rd 2002
by Lantern Books
(first published October 1st 2002)
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I don’t think you know that most of the facts that Dave Cullen Columbine wrote have been proven false. One fact that Cullen used that Eric suddenly became a Casanova. Not true Eric would maybe go one or two dates .There was no girlfriend Brenda she made it all up. She was a serial killer groupie. More than one person has told how badly Dylan and Eric were bullied. After reading Brooke Brown’s Book No Easy Answer. Then checking for myself other student’s interview on how these two were treated. I...more
This was a hard book to read. It wasn't boring or poorly written, but the subject matter was rather tough to read. Brooks Brown grew up with Dylan Klebold. He was also friends with Eric Harris. Their actions on April 20, 1999 affected Brooks' life. He was outside Columbine High School when Eric Harris pulled up. Eric told him to go home. As Brooks was walking he heard the gunfire.
Brooks tells what happened starting with his lone time friendship with Dylan. He discusses the bullying that went on...more
Brooks tells what happened starting with his lone time friendship with Dylan. He discusses the bullying that went on...more
I read this right after Dave Cullen's Columbine. I loved it. Brooks reminds me of myself in high school, for one thing. For another, he really helped me to understand a little better the psychology of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and as a result, perhaps a bit about the psychology of Seung Cho. It was also interesting to hear the perspective of a kid who was targeted by incompetent politicians looking to deflect anger away from themselves.
The book was also interesting in light of Cullen's book...more
The book was also interesting in light of Cullen's book...more
I read this book when I went to a book club based on True Crime. I was annoyed they chose a book about School Shooters then I was swayed when they chose a great writer who had many things to say about the tragic event. Brooks Brown kept a blog at 1Up that I used to read during free periods between classes in college. A few times, he mentioned the massacre but he captured my interests when he wrote some amusing antidotes on parents and video games. Something I know too well about.
His account of w...more
His account of w...more
I was not surprised when I breezed through this book in a day. I did not know this book existed until a little while ago, so I put it on my library queue and had it in my hands within days.
I still find it appropriate that I was vacationing in Las Vegas (the land of over-the-top excess) when Columbine happened. I can still remember sitting in my hotel room with my cousin watching this bizarre news story take over every channel on the television (9/11 being the only other time I remember that hap...more
I still find it appropriate that I was vacationing in Las Vegas (the land of over-the-top excess) when Columbine happened. I can still remember sitting in my hotel room with my cousin watching this bizarre news story take over every channel on the television (9/11 being the only other time I remember that hap...more
If I had read this when it was released, I might have given it three stars, but the material here has recently been covered in Dave Cullen's Columbine, which was better written and covered the tragedy more in depth. However, I can see the necessity of such a book to help clear Brown's name, which the sheriff department tarnished.
This book might be more accessible to teenagers who might relate to the angst of being an outcast. Personally, because of mixed reports, I still wonder exactly how bad...more
This book might be more accessible to teenagers who might relate to the angst of being an outcast. Personally, because of mixed reports, I still wonder exactly how bad...more
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I've always wondered why people do the things they do. I can remember watching a lot of this on tv when the Columbine shootings happened and I always wondered why someone would ever do something like this. This book gives some insight as to maybe why they did it. The person that wrote this book was friends with both of the shooters. It tells a lot of things that I never saw in the news (or maybe can't remember). It does have some swearing but it was an interesting read.
A really really interesting and great read about the Columbine Massacre that is out of the ordinary from what you may have seen and heard on any other documentary or book about Columbine. Brooks Brown was best friends with Dylan growing up- their parents were extremely close as well. Through Dylan, Brooks becomes both a friend and enemy of Eric. Through the eyes of someone who knew both the shooters, you realize things you had not really before heard about the shooting. Brooks reported Eric and...more
First of all, I would like to say that "Columbine" by Dave Cullen, is absolute shit. He wrote the book on assumptions, he himself, had made. It's not an informative book, it's a fictional book on his assumptions and thoughts.
If you want to know about what really happened at Columbine, and get in insight in why they did what they did; this is the book you should read. Who knows more about the topic, than the guy who actually knew the boys, and were there that day?
This book focuses on how the boys...more
If you want to know about what really happened at Columbine, and get in insight in why they did what they did; this is the book you should read. Who knows more about the topic, than the guy who actually knew the boys, and were there that day?
This book focuses on how the boys...more
on Friday, July 11, 2008 I wrote about this book:
Finished this 2 days ago. On July 9.
When I started reading this book it felt like I was under a spell or something. Since then I have looked up all kind of info about the shooting, the shooters and the victims.
Downloaded the Columbine Report (11.000) pages.
Very interesting book
10 out of 10
Finished this 2 days ago. On July 9.
When I started reading this book it felt like I was under a spell or something. Since then I have looked up all kind of info about the shooting, the shooters and the victims.
Downloaded the Columbine Report (11.000) pages.
Very interesting book
10 out of 10
Brooks Brown, the best friend of Dylan Klebold one of the Columbine shooters gives a gut wrenching view of the shooting through his eyes. I read this my freshmen year of High School and along with another student incorporated excerpts into a play we wrote for the senior class. Brooks Brown tells this story in a down to Earth fashion that is easy to read and understand through a teenagers eyes (He was also gracious enough to help consult on the play I co-wrote and was just as pleasant on the phon...more
Hard to read because you know it's true.. Great book though.
Brooks Brown isn't a writer, he's simply telling his story. And what a horrific one it is. This is a raw, honest depiction, as if you are sitting down with him and letting him tell you what happened. He tells it like it was and how it is, simple as that. It isn't fancy but it is clean, cutting and straight to the point. No excuses are made, he tells the story as he saw it and gives the details from the inside, rather than someone who wasn't there and has worked from research alone. This is proba...more
I am writing a book about struggling and coming to terms with having bipolar disorder. I plan on showing the parallels with school shooters and struggling with bipolar disorder to bring an awarness in what it takes to stop this shootings long before the killers start planning. I bought this as part of my research and found it incredibly biased. However, it is a first-hand account you won't get any where else. Honestly, I agree with a lot of his opinions and approach. Regardless- you can tell wha...more
Like the title suggests, there are still some questions that are difficult to answer correctly in the lives of Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold and their attack on their school.
Told by someone who was a personal friend of the two, Brooks Brown recounts the day he first met Klebold, to meeting Harris (through Klebold), his falling-out with Harris, the day he heard the shootings happen, and the aftermath (which is "part 2" of the book).
Part 2 deals with him coping with the catastrophe, being the bl...more
Told by someone who was a personal friend of the two, Brooks Brown recounts the day he first met Klebold, to meeting Harris (through Klebold), his falling-out with Harris, the day he heard the shootings happen, and the aftermath (which is "part 2" of the book).
Part 2 deals with him coping with the catastrophe, being the bl...more
This book offers yet another telling and evaluation of the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. I read this on the tail of David Cullen's, Columbine, which I preferred. I liked Cullen's take for 2 reasons: a. He is an impartial 3rd party. I felt that sometimes Brooks Brown was a little too involved and connected to tell a story. And b. Cullen's book came out in 2009, which gave it a little more perspective due to the passage of time.
Some facts in the two books are very similar,...more
Some facts in the two books are very similar,...more
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I can see why Brooks had to write this book, both for necessary inner and outer redemption, seeing as he and his family really went through bad times after Columbine (and before, obviously, when Eric Harris threatened Brooks and nobody acted upon it). However. As important a book this is for Brooks, his family and many others directly concerned... I doubt it's that helpful to people outside. Or well, at least it wasn't for me.
Some anecdotes mentioned made me doubt Brooks and his family as narra...more
Some anecdotes mentioned made me doubt Brooks and his family as narra...more
So I don't know if this book suffered unnecessarily because I read it right after Dave Cullen's or if I would have disliked it either way, but regardles I did. Dislike it I mean.
I didn't hate it. In fact I'd go so far as to say I'd recommend it, if only for the the indepth discussion of Dylan Klebold (who was kind of typecase as the depressed loser sidekick in Cullen's book IMHO). But Brooks' (and Merrit's - did he have much to do with this?) tone was grating. At several points in the book he de...more
I didn't hate it. In fact I'd go so far as to say I'd recommend it, if only for the the indepth discussion of Dylan Klebold (who was kind of typecase as the depressed loser sidekick in Cullen's book IMHO). But Brooks' (and Merrit's - did he have much to do with this?) tone was grating. At several points in the book he de...more
Brooks Brown is angry. And who can blame him? He already took his share of shit at school, along with his friends. Then two of them, including his best friend from childhood, walked into Columbine one day and became notorious mass murderers. Just before Eric Harris entered the Columbine cafeteria armed to the teeth and ready to commit random slaughter he ran into Brooks Brown. "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home." For some reason Harris decided to warn Brown off -- albeit in an obl...more
I loved reading this book, because it added to my interests of learning about all the different things about school shootings. It is written by Brooks Brown who was once a friend of Dylan and Eric (boys who caused the bloodiest massacre in US history). It described how the "killers" were in the beginning when they were younger.
While reading this book, people may have different opinions on the issue of school shootings. Yes, it is terribly wrong that these two kids who started out as children lik...more
While reading this book, people may have different opinions on the issue of school shootings. Yes, it is terribly wrong that these two kids who started out as children lik...more
I read this book over a two day period. It was very interesting and informative. I decided to read this book because I have often wondered why kids would be driven to commit mass murder. Brooks Brown does a great job explaining the psychology behind the tragedy. He was there and he lived within the hostile culture of Columbine High School. He knew Eric and Dylan very well. Kids can be incredibly cruel and insensitive to one another, and when the adults in charge look the other way, it's a recipe...more
I want to just give Brooks Brown a hug. I read this after Dave Cullen's book too and now I am kind of angry. I feel like Dave Cullen is trying to make Eric and Dylan look psychotic instead of just telling things how they were. Both boys were depressed and fed up. They were tired of being treated like crap. I can relate to that. I was a juggalo for a very long period of my life and I know what it was like to be picked on. People can only take so much before they snap. When I say "snap", I don't j...more
This book is AMAZING. Wish there were 2 more stars to add to the 5 star count. Just simply couldn't put this book down- I read it in one sitting. I'm not too crazy about memoirs, but this one has a REAL message for anyone who works with kids.
I'm going to share the beginning of Chapter 22 with my students and start a discussion about what it means to lose hope and how to regain it. Maybe, with that, I can prevent anything like that from happening at my school.
I'm going to share the beginning of Chapter 22 with my students and start a discussion about what it means to lose hope and how to regain it. Maybe, with that, I can prevent anything like that from happening at my school.
I read this because I have a weird fascination with Columbine, and had just read the book Columbine. This book, however, was a waste of time. It doesn't give you much in the way of insight into Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold. This kid hung out with them and had some conflicts with Eric. However, Brooks just uses this book as an opportunity to try and establish himself as a free thinker. Who cares.
HARD TO READ! And it has prompted me to re-read the DEFINITIVE book on Columbine, by Dave Cullen. Is Brooks just angry, or does his view differ from that of Dave Cullen, who spent YEARS researching the topic? Brooks was there. His book is obviously heartfelt, and full of anger and pain.
Interesting that he sort of thought the principal was a dick. Not a common view, I don't think.
Interesting that he sort of thought the principal was a dick. Not a common view, I don't think.
I have a bit of an obsession with the Columbine killings. That being said, I have an obvious slant on anything I read about them. So, it's no surprise that I enjoyed this account of the massacre and the events leading up to it. Since Brooks Brown personally knew Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, it offers a unique perspective that is definitely worth checking out. Brown has a strong voice and makes valid and finely thought out points against the injustices of high school, the justice system, and th...more
This is probably one of the best books about Columbine out there. Who better to hear it from than someone who was actually there and knew Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold well. I had researched the topic for over two years and this book was the icing on the cake. It not only tells you about the massacre on April 20th, but also life before the events. Brooks Brown recalls memories with Dylan Klebold back when they were in boy scouts together, and how they got in trouble in elementary school. He also...more
Brooks Browns social commentary is completely invaluable. As most researchers have figured out, Dave Cullen's book is riddled with inaccuracies and over-dramatizations. However, No Easy Answers is unapologetic and honest. Even if Brooks personal experience post-massacre aren't what you're looking for, his viewpoint on the cause and effect of the Columbine Massacre are spot-on and left me feeling surprisingly refreshed ("someone sees it..") from page one. The truth is, because of Brooks associati...more
Written by a survivor of Columbine, a friend of Eric and Dylan no less, the book is of course a bit slanted and sometimes includes myths about the actual incident rather than what has been proven with forensic evidence. This book has an interesting take on the school climate, one you will not find elsewhere.
Thoughtful, articulate recounting and interpretation of Columbine High School shootings by one of the students who was also a long time friend of Dylan Klebold. It is co-written with a journalist, Rob Merritt, who writes in his own voice in some passages to provide alternative perspective to the narrator's.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do you have any sympathy for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold? | 4 | 62 | Feb 14, 2013 11:26pm |
