Play Book Tag discussion

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Kleybold, two Columbine high school students, killed twelve of their fellow students and one teacher in what was, at the time, the worst school shooting in America's history. After reading this book I felt that whatever I thought I knew about the Columbine massacre was completely wrong. The killers were neither unpopular nor resentful about wrongs done to them. There was no Trench-coat Mafia feud between the jocks and the goths. Speculation that the date (Hitler's birthday) was untrue. They planned to do the killings on April 19, but hadn't been able to get ammunition. Eric was a crafty and calculating psychopath who wanted to kill as many people as possible, and Dylan suffered from depression and just wanted to kill himself. Together, they decided that murdering as many people as possible was a great idea.

In Columbine, the author successfully argues that we should all be surprised that they only killed thirteen people in total. If the propane bombs they’d planted in the cafeteria gone off as planned, forcing the students out into the parking lot where they were waiting, they might have killed hundreds. Prior to writing this book, Dave Cullen researched everything available on the Columbine story and assembled a comprehensive account of what really happened at Columbine High School. The police went to huge lengths to cover up some of their own incompetence and refused to release numerous critical documents until years after the tragedy. Meanwhile, some people in Littleton hung onto misinformation to advance their own requirements. Even though the massacre lasted less than an hour, press helicopters circled the school all day with nothing to report. That lead them to release some serious inaccuracies with their live reporting. The killers aren't the only people who look bad in this story.

What an interesting book. I really enjoyed the fact based narrative intertwined with the last moments of both the killers and the victims. I thought the author did a great job of humanizing both groups. The book gave the reader plenty of information to form their own opinions on what might, or might not, be the cause of this or any other school shooting.

I thought this book was an excellent piece of investigative journalism.

Now, Dylan's mother is speaking out publically, and my heart really goes out to her. She describes some of his behaviors and wonders if she just missed something - - but honestly, the things she describe sound like the same stuff tons of teenage boys do.

I feel so bad for her. The guilt and her son died.