Columbine by Dave Cullen

The book Columbine was briefly mentioned in a book I read last summer about teaching writing to adolescents. Intrigued, I picked up a copy, but it took me quite a while to actually read it. Who purposely spends their time before bed reading about mass murder? Apparently, me.

In the book, Cullen attempts to explain what really happened - not just on April 20, 1999, but in the many years before and after. The amount of information he had access to is what gives him more credibility than most. Reading about the killers' actions, past crimes, journals, and video tapes were absolutely chilling. The fact that the police had knowledge of Eric Harris' criminal tendencies and their failure to act on them is incredibly frustrating.

However, the best part about this book is the amount of misinformation that gets tackled. It is amazing how much false information the media put out there, and most of us still remember it to be fact. Unfortunately, this hasn't changed much - just look at the Sandy Hook shootings, where the media misidentified the brother as the shooter, the mom as a teacher, and more.

I enjoyed reading this book as much as one can enjoy an account of such a terrible tragedy. It is well-written and extremely thorough. 8.5/10.