Columbine is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. Forget everything you thought you knew about the killers, their motives, the high school and role of the media in reporting an unfolding event. The real story is not what you saw on TV that terrible April day or the weeks and months that followed. Dave Cullen goes behind the headlines and brings us the facts about one the darkest days in modern American history. He brilliantly cuts through the hysteria to show us the truth about Dylan and Eric, their families, Columbine High School and the town of Littleton, Colorado. To me, one of the most haunting aspects of this story is how typical all of these suburban families are. I see both the killers and their victims in the faces of my neighbor's children, the teenagers at the ballgame on Friday night and kids on playground down the street. It's easy now to talk about who should have known about the diabolical plans of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris but Cullen shows us that it's not so simple to see into the mind of a troubled teenager. Adding to the tragedy is the way the media handled the story, compounding grief and fear with rumors and falsehoods and manipulating the raw emotions of a shocked nation.

I could not put this book down until I finished. A must read for anyone interested in the role of the media in American society.

Overall I enjoyed this book very much. Having studied school shootings and followed the incidence in the past, I felt that this book did a good job of setting the facts straight and elaborating on potential causes. I feel as though the book was a little bit too drawn out, I felt like the author started to repeat himself and our group found it hard to keep track of all of the killer's friend's names; which made it harder to pay attention to the chapters on them.

As the Columbine story unfolded, most if not all of us were taken in by a story created by the media. Much of what we remember about the Columbine incident, the individuals involved and perpetrators was created by the media to fill time during the standoff and is not accurate. A very fine investigative look at what really happened and what the real motives were. As fascinating for it's indictment of the media as for the story is reveals. So much possibility for discussion.

Our club all agreed he author did a great job of relaying the facts with objectivity. He didn't let his feelings get in the way.
We found that the media had mis-informed the public on many things.
Very interesting.

Columbine created vast points of view for our members. The reading led to considerations for today's gun laws, school bullying, mental illness, and anger management. This book has definitely made an impact on how we view the news when horrific events are unfolding.