Columbine 25th Anniversary Memorial Edition

By: Dave Cullen

Narrated by: Don Leslie, Dave Cullen

In remembrance of the 25th anniversary, this definitive account of Columbine examines the aftermath and significance of the massacre: "a staggering work of journalism" (Washington Post).

So begins a new preface, 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.

Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on the scene, and he spent ten years on this book, 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.

"Excellent...amazing how much still comes as a surprise." —New York Times Book Review

"Like Capote's In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and the what of a horrifying incident to lay bare the devastating why." —People

"A staggering work of journalism." Washington Post

©2009 Dave Cullen (P)2024 Twelve

Critic reviews

"Salon magazine's Dave Cullen has been on top of the Columbine story from the start... We don't like our evil to be banal. Ten years after Columbine, it only now may be sinking in that the psychopathic killers were not jock-hating dorks from a 'Trench Coat Mafia,' or, as ABC News maintained at the time, 'part of a dark, underground national phenomenon known as the Gothic movement.' In the new bestseller COLUMBINE, the journalist Dave Cullen reaffirms that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were instead ordinary American teenagers who worked at the local pizza joint, loved their parents and were popular among their classmates."—Frank Rich, The New York Times

"Dave Cullen is the Dante of this high school hell. I came away from it thinking of Jack Nicholson hollering 'You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!' Read this quietly powerful account of Columbine and find out if you can."—Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars

"Half the anguish of Columbine is our mystification. How did those boys get so twisted, so murderous? Now, after nine years of great reporting, Dave Cullen has done the impossible: you will know these killers -- and it will shake you up. This is a big-time work that will endure."

—Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio and What It Takes

"Comprehensively nightmarish . . . Cullen's task is difficult not only because the events in question are almost literally unspeakable but also because even as he tells the story of a massacre that took the lives of 15 people, including the killers, he has to untell the stories that have already been told . . . Should this story be told at all? There's an element of sick, voyeuristic fascination to it--we don't need an exercise in disaster porn. But Columbine is a necessary book. . . . The actual events of April 20, 1999, are exactly as appalling as you'd expect, and Cullen doesn't spare us a second of them."—Time

"COLUMBINE is an excellent work of media criticism, showing how legends become truths through continual citation; a sensitive guide to the patterns of public grief, foreshadowing many of the reactions to Sept. 11 (lawsuits, arguments about the memorial, voyeuristic bus tours); and, at the end of the day, a fine example of old fashioned journalism . . . moving things along with agility and grace."—Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Review of Books

Heartbreaking and beautiful

Very interesting listen, would recommend to others. Great audio quality as well. Really appreciated how positively it ended. Good closure and happy people in the focus.

The ending interview and Dave’s transparency.

I appreciated the clarity surrounding the killer’s motives as well as Val Schnurr’s experience and Cassie Bernall’s death.

Heartbreaking

This was heartbreaking, inspiring and necessary. This book will stay with me for a long time.

A showcase of true compassion

Absolutely amazing fully encompassed story of the true depths of the Columbine massacre. Covering all angles and addresses all the facts and falsities of the case. Amazing story telling and Dave’s vulnerability and compassion really comes through to the reader. Very moving.

Refreshingly Informative

Insightful and courageous. It's what I feel for the author for tackling this event and fallout with courage and coming away with truths and insights many wanted or needed to hear/read. Thank you, too, for the narrator, for tackling this reading with sensitivity.

Details

I didn’t like when he used opinions over facts. Stick to the truth and avoid opinions is always better.

Haunting Tribute to American Shame

I have heard and studied multiple accounts and historic takes on Americas horribly numerous shootings. Dave Cullen masterfully demonstrated how to balance the narrative of both the victims and their assailants. All Americans should study this story, understand the importance, and promise ourselves we will do better.

Author's feeling of moral superiority is grating

The emotions and religiosity of the author are glaringly apparent throughout. If you aren't an evangelical Christian then don't hold your breath for any details of the spiritual experiences of the victims, as the evangelicals are the only ones covered. The author has a contemptuous attitude towards various targets, and it can be quite distracting. The material is interesting, but the tone of this book is overly emotional. The author's acceptance of some parts of psychological theory and rejection of others is frustrating for anyone with a background in the field.

Disorganized

This had great potential. Following this author’s thought process is a nightmare. It’s not in anything close to chronological order. It goes from past, to present (event), to future, to present, to future, to past, to future, to present, to past. It’s all over the place.