Columbine by Dave Cullen ★★★★

[Kate]

Columbine by Dave Cullen
★★★★

In an exhaustively complete examination of the tragic mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, Cullen examines the development of the shooters as they plotted and planned, futile attempts by a few concerned individuals to call attention to their dangerous behavior, the hood-winking of well-intentioned parents, the tragedy, heroism and chaos of the day itself, the confused police response and eventual cover-ups and retrenchment, all the way through the ensuing ten years of recovery, recrimination, and healing. I found the epilogue particularly interesting wherein Cullen recounts his own personal reactions to the event and aftermath and critiques the role of his profession in feeding the mass-shooter phenomenon. This was a tough book to read but worth the pain to gain a little more insight into a problem that will continue to plague our society.

[Anita]

I read this one, and agree with your rating and review. It was a very well done piece of investigative journalism.

[Ellen]

Very nice review, Kate. I thought this book was quite well done considering the heavy subject matter.

[Sara]

I have this book on my tbr, but I am not sure I will ever be able to read it. Anything to do with Columbine and school shootings prompts incredibly emotional reactions from me. I read We Need to Talk About Kevin and that is likely my limit of anything I can read, watch or discuss about schhol shootings/violence. Despite how well it was done I only got through it because so much of the focus was on the mom.

[LibraryCin]

I believe this was 5 stars for me. I listened to the audio, so I'm not sure if that upped the rating or not.

Sara, it sounds like it might not be one for you after all.

[Olivermagnus]

This is on my TBR this month. I read We Need to Talk About Kevin over a year ago and couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks.