Columbine by Dave Cullen is a non-fiction book that explains not only the how, and what happened during the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, but the why. It delves into the lives of not only the victims of the shooting but the shooters themselves, and I think that's why this book is so necessary. While the book is factual and based on years of research and interviews, it reads like fiction and at times you forget and are incredulous that this tragedy actually happened.
Cullen jumps around from the years leading up to the shooting, to the day of the shooting, to the days and years following the shooting. This type of writing structure can be dizzying and confusing in other books, but in Columbine it works in a way that allows Cullen to fit together all of pieces of this confusing puzzle. The other thing that I loved about this book was that it presented the evidence without assumptions and without placing or avoiding blame. When a tragedy occurs, people always want to know who's at fault. Cullen presents the facts in a way that they are really just that, facts. At no point in the book did I think, oh Cullen thinks that it's the fault of this person. Or that if this person did this, Columbine wouldn't have happened. Because really, you never know. No matter what anyone did, it still might've happened and I appreciate that he didn't dwell on the "what if," but rather focused on the reality.
In short, while difficult to read because of the disturbing nature of the subject, this book was one of the best I've read in a long time and I recommend it to anyone, again with the caveat that Cullen is transparent in his knowledge. He presents the facts and tells things like they are, which at times is tough to handle. But in the end, when tragedy occurs, people want to know why. And through Columbine, Dave Cullen helps readers understand why. 5 stars
Check out Sarah's thoughts on the book in her review from September 2010 here.
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