2024 edition
with new Preface
50 Best Nonfiction Books of the quarter century.
— Slate
"More important now than ever."
— Esquire
Columbine
I arrived at Columbine the first hour of the shooting, and spent ten years on this book. I was driven by two questions: why did they do it, and how did this shattered community recovery?
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My surprise was that most of what we "know" about Columbine was wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths or the Trench Coat Mafia. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold didn't even envision a school shooting. They ridiculed school shooters as losers. Eric built his bombs to dwarf Oklahoma City. They planned to mow down survivors fleeing the the burning rubble for "fun." And it would end with more bombs.
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The key to comprehending Columbine is letting go of our concept of "the killers." Spend a few pages with Dylan and Eric, and you'll discover two starkly disparate boys. Their motives and personalities were poles apart. Eric Harris was monstrous; Dylan Klebold was loving but bitterly angry inside — a tender boy torn apart. Dylan was truly a revelation.
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The survivors proved equally illuminating. Their stories are surprisingly uplifting — such a refreshing contrast to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Thousands of students and parents faced the unthinkable; most overcame it, many in extraordinary ways. I was amazed by their spirit and by stunning moments of redemption. Hopefully, those shine through in Columbine. Each survivor's recovery is unique, but they consistently tell me the greatest lesson other communities can learn is: Don't rush the healing!
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Dave has written for New York Times, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, Politico, Guardian, New Republic, Newsweek, Times of London, Washington Post, Daily Beast, Slate, Salon, The Millions, Lapham's Quarterly, NPR's On The Media, and 5280. Full Bio.
"Like Capote's In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and what of a horrifying incident to lay bare the devastating why."
— People
AWARDS
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Edgar Award
Best True Crime 2009
Goodreads Choice Award
Best Nonfiction 2009
Barnes & Noble Discover Award
Best Nonfiction 2009
Top Education Book 2009
Top 10 of the Decade
The Truth About the Fact Award
Best Nonfiction 2009
FINALIST
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
American Library Association Alex Award
Audie Award
Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award
Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award
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BEST OF 2009 LISTS
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Publishers Weekly
American Library Association
American School Board Journal
Chicago Tribune
Entertainment Weekly
Miami Herald
Bookmarks Magazine
Amazon
Salon
Mother Jones
Audible
iTunes
Borders
Washington Post Express
Oakland East Bay Express
National Post (Canada)
New Haven Register
New London's The Day
New West
Asia Literary Review
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"definitive"
Columbia Journalism Review
Newsweek
Times of London
GQ
USA Today
Slate
Book Riot
Philadelphia Inquirer
Vox
MetroFocus (PBS NYC)
Daily Beast
New York Post
Huffington Post
Rachel Maddow
Anderson Cooper
Chris Hayes
Brian Stelter, CNN's "Reliable Sources"
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All-Time
True Crime Best Lists
Publishers Weekly
Esquire
BuzzFeed
Goodreads
Vulture
USA Today
Huffington Post
Reader's Digest
B&N Reads
Bustle
The Lineup
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All Columbine Reviews
Expanded Edition
New epilogue
Killers' journal scans
Diagram
Book club guide
Over 50 new pages
"The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . ." That's how I began the epilogue to this expanded edition, grappling with this scourge of spectacle murders. After 18 years covering the tragedy that ignited this ghastly phenom, it's now clear why they continue.
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The first edition of Columbine took me ten years, and I thought I was done. That was naive. I step back now to address how Columbine created a new template for these frustrated kids — and how we can prevent school shootings. Columbine is so misunderstood that these copycats are following a false script. The Columbine myths were seized upon by a generation of new killers, looking to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as heroic champions of the downtrodden.
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Nonsense. Eric cared only about self-aggrandizement, and Dylan was focused on ending his own despair.
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In the wake of Newtown, Las Vegas, the Pulse nightclub and so many horrors whose names are sadly forgotten, the imperative to understand the attack that initiated this blight grows more urgent. Only by understanding this tragedy can we prevent more.
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Epilogue excerpt
over 750,000 views
"This book is a masterpiece."
— Seattle Times
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"This superb work of investigation looks to be a definitive account."
— Columbia Journalism Review
Columbine
Teacher's Guide
We created units for a variety of high school or college courses in this modular 50-page Columbine Teacher's Guide. It emphasizes analysis and critical thinking. Thanks to all the teachers and professors who helped create and refine it. It's free. (New streamlined look, 2017.)
Popular modules
"Tackles the hardest question of all: why? Come away from Cullen's unflinching account with a deeper understanding of what drove these boys to kill."
TV
Dave has been a frequent TV/radio analyst on NBC Nightly News, PBS Newshour, CBS Sunday Morning, Lawrence O'Donnell, Nightline, Today, Morning Edition, The Nineties, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper 360, All In With Chris Hayes, CBS This Morning, CBSN, The Nineties, Hannity, Lawrence O'Donnell, All Things Considered, Deadline: Whitehouse, New Day, Katie, Talk of the Nation, The Takeaway, and documentaries on CNN, Showtime, Spike, NatGeo, etc.
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Showtime's new Columbine documentary (With me)
"I urge you to read it. I've read it two or three times. It's just an incredible read.
It changed my whole perspective on this."
— Anderson Cooper
Columbine Resources
Research
I organized a decade of Columbine research into this free reader's tool:
The Columbine Guide.
More
Columbine Excerpts
Book Club
Columbine Student Guide
Columbine Teacher's Guide
Teen Depression
Columbine FAQ
"A page-turning, complex, disturbingly-readable book of incredible ambition and scope."
— Publishers Weekly
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"A virtuoso feat of reporting."
— Vanity Fair
Read
Interviews
When Columbine was published in 2009, I did more than a hundred interviews. These were the most interesting. And I added a recent one. Goggle for more.
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Poynter Institute, by Roy Peter Clark. October 2017.
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The Hastings Report, by Michael Hastings, July 2009 (my favorite).
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The New Yorker, by Lila Byock, March 2009.
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Salon, by Joan Walsh, April 2009.
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Time, by Alex Altman, April 2009.
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Police Magazine, by David Griffith, September 2009.
Reporting Columbine
Through ten years working on Columbine, I published more than thirty pieces on the tragedy in Slate, Salon, New York Times, etc. Since book publication, I’ve continued writing about school shootings, "spectacle murders" and now Parkland / #NeverAgain for New York Times, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, New Republic, Politico Magazine, Guardian, Times of London, etc. Highlights:
All My Columbine / Shooting Stories
"I could not put Cullen's searing narrative down."
— Entertainment Weekly
"Definitive"
​Columbia Journalism Review
Newsweek
Times of London
GQ
USA Today
Book Riot
Vox
Daily Beast
Philadelphia Inquirer
Huffington Post
New York Post
Anderson Cooper
Rachel Maddow
Chris Hayes
Brian Stelter, CNN's "Reliable Sources"
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"Accomplishes an astonishing number of things in compelling, articulate prose. . . .
Most remarkable is Cullen's ability to present an onslaught of facts while recreating such anguish and fear. Columbine is a valuable historic resource, but it roils the heart, too."
— Miami Herald
Japanese
Korean
Russian and Portuguese just published!
September 2019
"Excellent.
What's amazing is how much of Cullen's book still comes as a surprise."
— New York Times Book Review