Friday, July 17, 2009

COLUMBINE: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY NOW
IS OVER!
COLUMBINE

by
Dave Cullen

ABOUT THE BOOK:
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 branding every subsequent shooting "another Columbine."
When we think of Columbine, we think of the Trench Coat Mafia; we think of Cassie Bernall, the girl we thought professed her faith before she was shot; and we think of the boy pulling himself out of a school window -- the whole world was watching him. Now, in a riveting piece of journalism nearly ten years in the making, comes the story none of us knew. In this revelatory book, Dave Cullen has delivered a profile of teenage killers that goes to the heart of psychopathology. He lays bare the callous brutality of mastermind Eric Harris, and the quavering, suicidal Dylan Klebold, who went to prom three days earlier and obsessed about love in his journal.

The result is an astonishing account of two good students with lots of friends, who came to stockpile a basement cache of weapons, to record their raging hatred, and to manipulate every adult who got in their way. They left signs everywhere, described by Cullen with a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, thousands of pages of police files, FBI psychologists, and the boy's tapes and diaries, he gives the first complete account of the Columbine tragedy.

In the tradition of HELTER SKELTER and IN COLD BLOOD, COLUMBINE is destined to be a classic. A close-up portrait of hatred, a community rendered helpless, and the police blunders and cover-ups, it is a compelling and utterly human portrait of two killers-an unforgettable cautionary tale for our times.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dave Cullen is a journalist and author who has contributed to Slate, Salon, and the New York Times. He is considered the nation's foremost authority on the Columbine killers, and has also written extensively on Evangelical Christians, gays in the military, politics, and pop culture. A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Boulder, Cullen has won several writing awards, including a GLAAD Media Award, Society of Professional Journalism awards, and several Best of Salon citations.


"BINGO'S" REVIEW of COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen:
Dave Cullen bravely took on what might be thought of as yet just another journalist trying to cash in on the horrific story of the massacre at Columbine School. He did this with clearly immense amounts of research and time in order to set straight all the rumors and give a factual account that painfully at times reads like a novel...such as IN COLD BLOOD, except we all know that this is not fiction. What most of us, including myself, did not know was the facts of what occurred that day at Columbine.
Don't we already know about the loners, the Trench Coat Mafia boys, who were bullied until they had enough and blew away those people at that school? Don't we know about the parents who never cared or saw this coming from their own sons? Don't we know of the girl who told them she believed in God or the jocks who had bullied them and so were all killed? Don't we know about Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris already?
No, we don't! I didn't and reading the painful but so well written account by Dave Cullen opened my eyes as it also tore at my heart. The book is so well researched after 10 years that nothing is left to chance or to guess at. The book tells of the media and how it sensationalized much of what happened on that tragic day and how the two killers were very different from how they were portrayed.
COLUMBINE goes further as it also goes into the effects of this immense tragedy to tell about the survivors and how years later the shock still remains and what changes it brought about to so many lives. Dave Cullen writes a tough to read, but riveting non-fiction account that you will find hard to tear yourself away from. It also leaves one wondering how you could have gotten things to wrong for all these years when you thought you knew the truth about Columbine. April 20, 1999, will come alive once again in a horrific yet truthful fashion for the reader through the research, hard work, and skillful writing of Dave Cullen. Although a tough book to read, I am not sorry I did...and found it hard to put down.

THE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Miriam and the
Hachette Book Group for
sponsoring this giveaway.
DUE JULY 24
I have 3 copies of COLUMBINE
to giveaway. Here are the rules!
U. S. and Canadian Residents Only
No P. O. Boxes, Please
Must include your email address in comment

HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: Comment on why you want to read
and know more about Columbine

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow my blog on Google
Connect or tell if you already do

+1 MORE ENTRY: Tweet or blog about this
giveaway and come back and tell the link

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE INDIVIDUAL
AND SEPARATE COMMENTS OR THEY
WILL NOT COUNT.
ALL ENTRIES ARE DUE BY NOON, JULY 24
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!


75 comments:

Sheila DeChantal said...

Good Morning! Wow this sounds like a great giveaway. I have always been interested in these things. As hard as it may be to read I like to know the underlying facts. Of course we all hear what is said in the early days of a tragedy, but it is interesting to get to the center of what happened. I read about the girl who would not deny God, "She said Yes.". I have read fiction on stories like this (Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and We Need to Talk about Kevin, Lionel Shriver (I believe is that author).
I do follow you and I am going to link this giveaway now to my Giveaway page.

Julie P. said...

The Columbine tragedy occurred on my 30th birthday so I spent that day glued to the television. I am very interested in reading this book because I've read that the author did a tremendous job with it.

bookingmama(at)gmail.com

I already follow you via Google Reader

bermudaonion said...

I understand that this book is well written and it has an important story to tell, but I don't think I could bear to read it, so don't enter me. Your review is great.

Ashley said...

I remember the day this happened, I was home from school for some reason or another, and I was watching a soap opera and it was interrupted by a news alert about Columbine, and showed the picture of Patrick Green (?) hanging precariously from the window trying to be pulled down from scene. It was such a heartbreaking image. I was glued to CNN for three days after that trying to find out whatever details were available. This book would be fascinating for me to read, as I still hold that macabre sense of interest and sadness and disgust at the whole event.

I'm a follower, bellasnovella at gmail

ShadowsTomes said...

I want to read this book over the others that have come out based on this event because it doesn't seem like some shock story. Most of the other books that I have seen, just smack of sensationalism and that just turns me off from reading them. This book seems to report from facts. That is why I want to read this one!

must.read.faster@gmail.com

ShadowsTomes said...

I'm also following your blog!

must.read.faster@gmail.com

ShadowsTomes said...

I've also tweeted about this giveaway and review!

@lexley

must.read.faster@gmail.com

Pam said...

I hate to say this is a book I want to read as the subject is a horrifying tragedy I wish we could all forget. Unfortunately, I think we need to know the truth in order to prevent future tragedies.

I'm a follower.

melacan at hotmail dot com

Kaye said...

Hi Karen, I have given you an award. Please stop by to pick up the logo when you get a chance.

I can remember the morning I went out to get the newspaper and saw the front page with the Columbine story. It just made me so heartsick.

Debbie F said...

I would love to read move about this. I have a daughter entering high school this coming year and am concern about these kind of problems. I think this would be helpful to me and as I relate this to my daughter, helpful for her also. Thank you for this giveaway!

dcf_beth@verizon(dot) net

Steph Su said...

I have heard sensational things about this book, and the Columbine shooting is something I've always wanted to learn more about, but could never find a good source for. This sounds like the perfect opportunity for me to learn.

stephxsu at gmail dot com

Steph Su said...

+1 for following your blog

Steph Su said...

+1 for linking to my sidebar, and I will include it in my Weekly Giveaway Roundup post. Thanks for the opportunity!

Zia said...

I remember turning on the TV that morning and seeing this unfold on the news. I guess I want to read this mostly because it's something I just can't wrap my head around so I keep reading hoping some day I'll understand. I seriously doubt that will happen but I keep trying none the less.

ziaria(at)gmail(dot)com

Zia said...

I'm also a follower

Brimful Curiosities said...

My book club is considering this as one of our next reads. Thanks for the giveaway.

Matt Gladden said...

i want to read this because i knew someone who was killed in it.
matt dot glddn at gmail dot com

Matt Gladden said...

i follow
matt dot glddn at gmail dot com

Sage Ravenwood said...

Why would I want to read this book? I think everyone wants to understand the human psyche more than they do. What makes someone trip over that edge and ignore moral thinking? What would make a kid feel so unwanted - an outsider that the only way out is through violence and taking another life?
In order to understand something you have to know that why.

Thanks for this opportunity! Indigo

ravensquietscreams@gmail.com

Beth (BBRB) said...

This looks interesting! Please enter me!

I've seen people on Oprah talking about Columbine, but it would be interesting to hear more about the details.

BethsBookReviewBlog AT gmail DOT com

Beth (BBRB) said...

I'm a follower.

BethsBookReviewBlog AT gmail DOT com

DarcyO said...

I would like to read this to discover what could have gone so wrong in these boys' lives. Such a tragedy.

dlodden(at)frontiernet(dot)net

DarcyO said...

I follow.

dlodden(at)frontiernet(dot)net

Misusedinnocence said...

I would like to read this.

misusedinnocence@aol.com

Misusedinnocence said...

I follow.

misusedinnocence@aol.com

sharon54220 said...

I recently read a book by the parents of a girl killed in this tragedy (sorry, my mind went blank on the name) and I would love to read another perspective. This was a terrible tragedy.

sharon54220@gmail.com

sharon54220 said...

I am also a follower.

sharon54220@gmail.com

Jblanton said...

I remember watching this on tv and watching all the kids running out of the school. It was so terrifying and horrible that they (the two boys) could do this. I would like to read his research on what exactly took place months, days and hours before the killings

Jblanton said...

following your blog

ChristyJan said...

I would like to read this book because I have a sister-in-law who is a teacher and a brother-in-law who is a principal ~ they bring this subject up quite often.

hawkes(at)citlink.net

ChristyJan said...

+ I follow

hawkes(at)citlink.net

Chadwick said...

Hi there. I am following your blog:)

pissarro85@yahoo.com

Chadwick said...

I'd love to read this. I was much younger when the tragedies occured and so I missed out on a lot of the information surrounding the events. I'd like to read this so that I can understand it better.

Thank you for offering this.

pissarro85@yahoo.com

Chadwick said...

I just Tweeted about this here:
http://twitter.com/art_history_guy/status/2703013172

pissarro85@yahoo.com

Dixie said...

I would like to read this so I could perhaps gain some insight about how this tradgedy unfolded and the events that led up to it.

southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

Dixie said...

I follow you via google friends connect.
southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

Dixie said...

I tweeted.
http://twitter.com/southrngrl/status/2704301479

southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I have always been interested in finding out why this tradegy happened. I would love to read this

karryknisley76athotmaildotcom

Madeleine said...

I am interested in finding some clue on how this could have happened, why these boys could even imagine doing such an atrocious act

I am a follower

madeleine444[at]gmail[dot]com

Anonymous said...

i really enjoy reading true event novels..i want to learn more on the disaster

flower_child_23(at)hotmail(dot)com

Adriana62 said...

I'm interested in anything about Columbine.When researching the subject I found there were many strange things not found in other school shootings.I would bet Cullen has not touched on these.From the reviews I read about the book,I sense I would disagree on some of what Cullen has written but this doesnt discourage me from wanting to read it and no doubt it would provide some info I've not heard of.I would like to see a book written on Columbine from a metaphysical angle and I dont believe Cullen's work will be the final word on it.There is more to Columbine that has yet to be revealed.Because new books are expensive and I dont have money to burn, a free copy would be welcome!

Cindy said...

I will never forget the Columbine tragedy because I was a mom of school aged children at the time. I once lived in Colorado near Columbine so it is an area that is still very dear to me. I would like to win this one because this looks like a well-written book about a tragedy that touched so many of us.

Cindy
Socmom213@aol.com

Cindy said...

I follow your blog on Google!

Cindy
Socmom213@aol.com

Cindy said...

I follow you on Twitter. You are on my list of Favorites. My username is Soccermom213

I will tweet about your blog, as I do often.

Cindy
Socmom213@aol.com

Serena said...

This sounds like a great read. No need to enter me in the give.

DCMetroreader said...

I remember Columbine & have read a few books about the victims, so I would enjoy reading this too.

Follower

Blogged about giveaway here http://metroreader.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Please do not enter me, I have already read this book and did a review on it. I just wanted to tell you that I totally agree with you, reading the book and seeing how detailed Dave Cullen is in this book is just out of this world. I literally felt like I was in the same room when all of this was happening and it was a gut wrenching book to read, knowing that it is true. The one thing that stayed with me through the whole book was the fact that the first two students who were shot, the boy and girl, were left out in the open for days, not covered or anything, and the father found out his son was dead by seeing a picture a helicopter had took and was in the paper. I just could not believe that they didn't at least cover these poor kids up, this just really got to me..
Anyway, great review! And I agree, this was a good book!

Sue said...

I was in the hospital after giving birth two my second son the day before. I remember turning on the tv while they took him away for a bath and to check him out and just felt so sad at the tragic events. It's just always stuck with me...
Thanks for the giveaway.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Melissa said...

Thanks for the great review!

I'm a born and raised Coloradoian and remember exactly where I was when news of the shooting happened. My roommates and I all sat around the TV for hours as the story unfolded.

Melissa said...

I also follow :)

Bingo said...

I understand that this book its greatly written! Reading other comments and review Im really interested now. Love your blog too! Im following :)

Young in TX said...

I'd like to read something more factual than the fiction I usually read.

Vera said...

Sounds like a powerful book. I've of course heard much about Columbine, but never read an in depth account of it - which is why I find this book compelling.

vvperesk@gmail.com

Vera said...

I'm a follower - vvperesk@gmail.com

rubynreba said...

I would like to read this because I remember the day it happened and watching it on TV. I think it would be very interesting to read a book about it.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

catss99 said...

I've done some research on school shootings so I'd really love to read this book.
amanda
catss99@yahoo.com

catss99 said...

i'm a follower
amanda
catss99@yahoo.com

minishoes1 said...

I think it would be a great read and i want to know the facts. It was such a tragedy! Who could ever forget this! thanks! jacquecurl1@gmail.com

minishoes1 said...

I already follow. jacquecurl1@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I saw some news footage about Columbine and am interested in stuff like this. And am also thankful that when I went to school, that school shootings were VERY uncommon. I can't imagine how terrifying this would have been.

devonm @ Sasktel dot NET

Anonymous said...

I subscribed to your blog in a reader.

devonm @ sasktel dot NET

LoveMyCoffee said...

I would love to know about the police blunders and cover ups. It will also be interesting to read the journals that he mentions too.

I subscribe by googlereader

Dutchlvr1(at)aol(dot)com

Glenn said...

After reading your review, it sounds like a very interesting read. Thanks for the giveaway.

glenn_pessano AT yahoo DOT com

Alyce said...

I've read a few reviews of this book, and I'd really like to read it.

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

Alyce said...

I follow your blog.

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

Rebecca N. said...

I love your review. This book sounds so super intense. I'm very glad I was out of school by the time school shootings started coming into play. Going to school has been changed forever because of this horrific event. I'm quite interested in what details came out after the television dropped the story. Thanks for the great giveaway!

Rebecca N. said...

I follow your blog!

Rebecca N. said...

I tweeted! http://twitter.com/Sparkleglow/status/2804719653

Belinda M said...

Please include me in your giveaway.

Canadian Contests, Freebies, Coupons, Deals, Games and Chat - join us at CoolCanucks.ca


bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

Belinda M said...

I follow your blog


Canadian Contests, Freebies, Coupons, Deals, Games and Chat - join us at CoolCanucks.ca


bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com

enyl said...

I've been studying school tragedies in hopes of learning how to recognize a student who needs help in time to avoid another tragedy. enyl@inbox.com

Lesley (aka Upper West Side Writer) said...

I was in high school myself when Columbine happened, and it really changed quite a bit for us. There were new security procedures that we were drilled on often, and I started to feel a general sense that no place was complete safe. A rude awakening, indeed! So I know some of the ripples that Columbine sent out, and would love to learn more about the event itself.

Thank you!

lesleymfan(at)gmail(dot)com

Lesley (aka Upper West Side Writer) said...

I already follow your wonderful blog through Google Connect; thanks!

lesleymfan(at)gmail(dot)com

Lesley (aka Upper West Side Writer) said...

I just Tweeted about this giveaway, too:

http://twitter.com/uwsreader/status/2818420440

Thank you so much!

lesleymfan(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I've always been very curious about what really happened that day.

sheryljeffries@verizon.net

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