Columbine

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

Author: Dave Cullen
Publisher: Twelve
Published: 03/01/2010
Pages: 496
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780446546928

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.3
Point Value: 20
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 136676 / Columbine


Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 04/18/2010 pg. 28

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.