Why is this shit still happening all these years later?

I’ve been meaning to read this book for forever, but finally I felt like I was in a good enough place that I had the mental bandwidth. In reality, I probably shouldn’t have waited so long. It wasn’t an easy read obviously, it’s just that Cullen is such a good writer that the book was surprisingly readable. It feels a bit gross to say that a book about such a terrible tragedy was a page turner and yet… it really was.

I think most people from my generation remember hearing about Columbine and being completely in shock and the media frenzy surrounding the shooting. Cullen breaks down the events of that day and then digs deep into what happened before and after the shooting, dispelling many of the myths propagated by the media during that time. It was shocking to read how victims would hear something on TV and then internalize it and repeat it when being interviewed. The media was accidentally creating the narrative instead of reporting it. The biggest shock to me was finding out that Columbine wasn’t really a school shooting at all, it was a failed bombing. What Klebold and Harris had planned would have been much more devastating and terrifying, killing hundreds of students and faculty and then even more first responders, parents, and journalists.

I really like Cullen’s writing and reporting style. He seems like a very empathetic and thorough person. It took him ten years to write this book and in that time, he dug in deep to find the truth about the shooters, the truth about the events of that day, and the truth of the aftermath. His thoughtful and clear writing is a good fit for the horrific subject matter. I really recommend reading this one if you get a chance as it’s sadly more relevant than ever in the US with our seemingly non-stop shooting tragedies and politicians who don’t seem to give an actual shit.