I rarely read for fun anymore because I don’t have time. People, Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly are my only sources of reading enjoyment. Sad, I know.
While I was in Barnes & Noble buying a book for research, I decided to buy “Columbine” by Dave Cullen because I had heard so many good things about it. I devoured it in less than 24 hours (kind of a long time for me, actually, but I had two vocal distractions and a “Survivor” finale to watch).
It is an impressively researched and incredibly interesting book. I remember the shootings, but was, like most, misled by erroneous and perpetuated media accounts into believing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were outcasts who were being bullied. Instead, Cullen makes clear, they often did the bullying, and they had few close friends by choice. At least that was Eric’s choice. He was a true psychopath, the clinical definition. Dylan was depressed, lonely and incredibly shy.
One of the concepts I teach is crisis communication. The Jefferson County sheriff and his office did almost everything wrong. Repeatedly. But, if nothing else, communicators can learn from their mistakes.
The overall feeling I have after reading the book is sadness — sadness for the victims and their families, of course, but they have long had support in their recovery and grief. I feel the most sadness for Tom and Sue Klebold and Wayne and Kathy Harris. It is easy to point the finger of “bad parenting” at them, but there is no “if/then” manual for parents. You have to do the best you can. It is hard to distinguish the difference between warning signs and normal teenage angst. And no one wants to think his/her child is a psychopath. They also lost their children on April 20, 1999, but their children were killers, which adds another layer of pain. They also lost community support and relationships. They were vilified unjustly.
In general, the book is a solid piece of reporting. I do wonder why he chose to focus on the stories of a few of the victims, but not all. Some are not even mentioned. Also, Cullen could have used a diagram of the building and images of the people he discusses, but perhaps he thought the images would sensationalize the story even more than it has been. But I wanted to be able to visualize whom he was discussing. I turned to the Internet, of course. The bullying myth is still rampant in the comments on the videos. I wanted to respond to all of them. Sigh. Maybe word will get around thanks to Cullen.
Now I’m off to play with the kids, and hope that one of them does not grow up to be infamous.
Observe and report 
Wow – your post gave me chills – I’m definitely going to pick up a copy. Thanks for the insight!
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Hi Beth,
About your review of “Columbine” by Dave Cullen. When I first read it I also thought it was a terrific book and was impressed with the writing and the supposed amount of research that the author did in preparation for writing the book. Then I started hearing about and reading some negative reviews of the book and my opinions on it changed.
Chief among the negative reviews is one written by Randy Brown. Brown’s son Brooks was a classmate and friend of both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Brown has spent as much time and probably even more than Cullen researching and studying the events surrounding that day at Columbine High School. So Brown’s opinion is one that I value quite highly. Brown is so unhappy and angered by what he refers to as a book filled with errors that he all but calls “Columbine” a ‘work of fiction’. I urge you and anyone else who has either read “Columbine” or plans on reading it to check out Brown’s scathing 1-star review of it at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3AJEK6T7746K6/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
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I read it. Brown has an emotional connection to Columbine, and that makes his opinions valid, but his research is likely not objective and his recollections may not be accurate. I’m also curious about his motive for slamming an author, and why his son wrote a book.
After I read “Columbine,” I read Cullen’s end notes, and then I went to the source material to form my own conclusions. (I am a reporter and researcher, after all.) I read the interview transcripts of the victims and others, listened to the 911 tapes, watched other interviews, read the journal excerpts, etc. I think Cullen made the right assessment.
Thanks, Lisa, for providing another opinion.
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Thanks Beth for replying to my comment. In my opinion Brooks Brown co-authored his book for much the same reason that his father Randy is so upset with “Columbine”; that despite what others might believe and write they themselves believed there was a toxic atmosphere at that high school (severe bullying) and that it contributed largely to why the attack occurred. It would seem to me that the Brown family are frustrated that despite what they and others have said and written there are still people who are in denial about this. I think that’s why Randy Brown “slammed” Cullen, as you put it. To chalk most or all of it up to Harris and Klebold’s mental conditions is to let other people (Columbine students, teachers, school administrators) off the hook for any bullying they might have participated in or witnessed and ignored/dismissed.
So that part of “Columbine” bothered me, and so too did Cullen apparently relying on questionable source(s) for some of his information, like that of Brenda Parker and her alleged involvement with Eric Harris. As far as I know Parker has been thoroughly discredited as a reliable source yet Cullen appears to have believed and used her story that she was involved briefly with Harris. I find that troubling.
What I did like about the book: that there wasn’t a section of sensationalistic photos like so many true crime books have, that Cullen didn’t inject himself into the book as many authors do, and that it’s a very smooth, well-written book. I don’t think that “Columbine” is the definitive book on what happened then and there. I believe that book has yet to be written.
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The big secret about Columbine is that there were more involved than just Harris and Klebold. Don’t believe me? Just ask the eyewitnesses:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/columbineeight.php
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Explanation for the appearance of more people involved: Dylan and Eric came in wearing the black dusters, and took them off during the melee. Plenty of evidence for this.
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40 plus eyewitnesses who actually named someone other than Harris or Klebold is not merely mistaken identity. Face it, you are being scammed.
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Thank you, starviego, for clearing that up. Perhaps you can explain the lack of physical evidence for that assertion.
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Sure there was physical evidence. The cops covered it up. Stick with the ordinary people who saw what they saw, and not with the government-controlled investigation.
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Yes, of course, a conspiracy. And the cops were SO good at the other cover-ups they tried. Nice try, but a cover-up takes a master plan and brains. I don’t give Jeffco that much credit.
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I think there is bullying at every school (and really, every aspect of our society), and that is very sad. However, it doesn’t appear that Eric and Dylan were victims of bullying. But let’s say for argument’s sake they were. It isn’t exactly a good reason to try to blow up the entire school. That’s why I believe the psychopath assessment.
And there are definitely things I didn’t like about Cullen’s book (Parker is one), but I think it holds up overall.
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Oh of course you’re right on bullying not being a good reason to try and blow up your school, or anything else for that matter. I just don’t believe in the whole psychopathy reason 100% either. My personal opinion is why does it have to be one or the other (bullying vs. psychopathy). I think it was probably a combination of both.
I forgot to add that I also appreciated the way that Cullen seemed to clear up all the misunderstandings regarding eyewitness accounts of the attack at CHS, as you mentioned. He did a great job with that. And the passages on psychopathy were quite interesting to read as well.
I guess that despite my misgivings with the book “Columbine” I’m glad that people haven’t forgotten what happened ten years ago, are still interested in reading about it and seeking answers and trying to understand. That’s never a bad thing.
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Excellent observations, Lisa. Thanks for weighing in. And you are so right about not forgetting, and continuing the attempt to understand. It is all to try to learn from mistakes, and prevent future tragedies.
Happy holidays!
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