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Columbine
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Columbine (2009) (edit title/settings)

by Dave Cullen (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

On April 20, 1999, two boys left an indelible stamp on the American psyche. Their goal was simple: to blow up their school, Oklahoma-City style, and to leave "a lasting impression on the world." Their bombs failed, but the ensuing shooting defined a new era of school violence-irrevocably... read more

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

  • - The definitive account of the tragedy at Columbine High: killers, motives, survivors and the attack itself.
  • - Comprehensive New York Times bestseller and winner of several major awards, including the Edgar.

Summary edit see section history

Widely recognized as the definitive account of the tragedy at Columbine High: killers, motives, survivors and the attack itself. It became a break-out New York Times bestseller and won a slew of year-end honors, including inclusion on 22 Best of 2009 lists. It won the Edgar Award in the same... read more

Widely recognized as the definitive account of the tragedy at Columbine High: killers, motives, survivors and the attack itself. It became a break-out New York Times bestseller and won a slew of year-end honors, including inclusion on 22 Best of 2009 lists. It won the Edgar Award in the same category it was awarded to In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter. Many reviews compared it to those works.

The book by award-winning journalist Dave Cullen portrays the gradual evolution of two very different boys toward murder. It explains how Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed thirteen fellow students and themselves for very different reasons.

The book puts equal weight on a select group of victims and survivors, illustrating how they responded to the tragedy in very different ways. Many overcame tremendous obstacles and made miraculous recoveries.

A brief, but intense account of how the attack unfolded is also included.

Characters/People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “A squirrel will exhibit frustration if you tease it by offering a peanut, then repeatedly snatching it back”
  • “Even an earthworm will recoil if you poke it with a stick”
  • “Psychopaths do not feel much, but when they lose patience with inferiors, they can really let it rip”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
    Highlighted by 171 Kindle customers
  • Eric killed for two reasons: to demonstrate his superiority and to enjoy it.
    Highlighted by 115 Kindle customers
  • Psychopaths are distinguished by two characteristics. The first is a ruthless disregard for others: they will defraud, maim, or kill for the most trivial personal gain. The second is an astonishing gift for disguising the first. It’s the deception that makes them so dangerous. You never see him coming. (It’s usually a him—more than 80 percent are male.) Don’t look for the oddball creeping you out. Psychopaths don’t act like Hannibal Lecter or Norman Bates. They come off like Hugh Grant, in his most adorable role.
    Highlighted by 106 Kindle customers
  • Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle had played out in full force: by observing an entity, you alter it.
    Highlighted by 105 Kindle customers
  • The fundamental nature of a psychopath is a failure to feel. A psychopath’s grasp of fear and suffering is particularly weak.
    Highlighted by 90 Kindle customers
  • Shame did not register; neither did fear. Psychopaths are not individuals losing touch with those emotions. They never developed them from the start.
    Highlighted by 86 Kindle customers
  • The FBI compiled a specific list of warning signs, including symptoms of both psychopathy and depression: manipulation, intolerance, superiority, narcissism, alienation, rigidity, lethargy, dehumanization of others, and externalizing blame.
    Highlighted by 86 Kindle customers
  • Hare created a separate screening device for juveniles and identified hallmarks that appear during the school years: gratuitous lying, indifference to the pain of others, defiance of authority figures, unresponsiveness to reprimands or threatened punishment, petty theft, persistent aggression, cutting classes and breaking curfew, cruelty to animals, early experimentation with sex, and vandalism and setting fires.
    Highlighted by 76 Kindle customers
  • So what should adults look for? First and foremost, advance confessions: 81 percent of shooters had confided their intentions. More than half told at least two people. Most threats are idle, though; the key is specificity. Vague, implied, and implausible threats are low-risk. The danger skyrockets when threats are direct and specific, identify a motive, and indicate work performed to carry it out. Melodramatic outbursts do not increase the risk.
    Highlighted by 73 Kindle customers
  • It wasn’t until the 1970s that Robert Hare isolated twenty characteristics of the condition and created the Psychopathy Checklist, the basis for virtually all contemporary research. He also wrote the definitive book on the malady, Without Conscience.
    Highlighted by 52 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

He told them he loved them.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Author's Note on Sources

I. Female Down
II. After and Before
III. The Downward Spiral
IV. Take Back the School
V. Judgment Day

Afterword: "Forgiveness"
Timeline: Before
Appendices
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Reading Group Guide

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in True Crime: Killer Kids. (community list)
This book is in True Crime: Revenge. (community list)
This book is in True Crime: Spree Killers. (standard series)
This is book 8 of 14 in 2010 Award Winners. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Dave Cullen (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Dave Cullen (Afterword)
  2. Fearn Cutler de Vicq (Designer)
  3. Twelve (Publisher)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Twelve
Country: USA
Publication Date: April 2009
ISBN: 9780446546935
Page Count: 417

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: LB3013.33.C6C84 2009
  • Dewey: 373.7888

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Appropriate for adults, high school and mature middle school.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

  • COLUMBINE book trailer: Summarizes the book COLUMBINE and the motives of killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
  • Columbine--author's site for the book: The author's official web page for COLUMBINE, with instructor guide, reviews, and resources.
  • Columbine Instructor/Teacher's Guide: For college or high school Humanities courses. Created for multiple curricula.
  • Columbine Online: Columbine Online navigates the web of myths, legitimate evidence, and contradictory Columbine High School massacre coverage. It includes photos, diagrams, video, resources for victims, police reports, witness testimony, scans of Dylan Klebold & Eric Harris' journals, official government reports, documents and transcribed passages from The Basement Tapes. More coming, including links to all the victims, and analysis of the media portrayals.
  • Columbine Student Guide: Resources the author created to help students use COLUMBINE for class papers/projects

Movie Connections edit see section history

  • April Showers
  • Zero Day

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • In Cold Blood
  • Helter Skelter
  • The Devil in the White City
  • The Executioner's Song
  • The Stranger Beside Me
  • Under the Banner of Heaven
  • Black Hawk Down
  • The Perfect Storm
  • No Easy Answers
  • A Civil Action
  • Longitude

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Without Conscience
  • Handbook of Psychopathy
  • The Sociopath Next Door
  • Snakes in Suits
  • The Gift of Fear
  • Psychopathy: Conduct disorder, Hare Psychopathy Checklist, Recidivism, Fictional portrayals of psychopaths, Antisocial personality disorder

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history

   
  • Without Conscience
  • Othello
  • Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society, 13)
  • Handbook of Psychopathy
  • Dave Sanders: Columbine Teacher, Coach, Hero
  • A Farewell to Arms
  • Notes From Underground

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