My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an amazing, exhausting, devastating, engaging depiction of the events at Columbine, and, more importantly, an intimate character sketch of all involved: Dylan and Eric, their parents, their friends, the victims, the survivors, their parents, the community, the administration, law enforcement working on the case, and the teachers. (Well, as intimate as was appropriate for certain folks – no one needs to know Sheriff Stone’s life story, but the depiction of his carelessness, deceitfulness, and general buffoonery was detailed and astounding.)
This book dispels so many myths that still persist about Columbine – myths I believed until I read it. These weren’t outcasts. They weren’t homosexual. They weren’t pissed off at jocks or rich kids. There was no third shooter. They didn’t have tumultuous home lives, nor were they latch-key kids. They didn’t just snap one day.
And to me, that’s the scariest part of the revelation that was this entire book: there’s no real profile. Sure, the FBI describes certain qualities and characteristics in the manuals it released to help school officials prevent another Columbine, another Virginia Tech, but there’s no real profile. The characteristics the bureau describes can, by its own admission, point toward a child that is depressed and suicidal, not psychopathic. The outcast paradigm that led so many early discussions of Columbine is useless, too.
There is no ‘shooter profile.’ It could be anyone. Anyone. That’s the most terrifying part.
The author’s investigation into the characters of Dylan and Eric was haunting and exhausting and deeply personal. Thoughts, dislikes, insecurities, motives, struggles, everything was laid out. In addition to that, the book itself provides useful information as to how to spot an at-risk student, and how to deal with the situation, even though it certainly doesn’t hold itself out as a manual or informative guide by any means. That seems to be largely incidental, like documentaries about crystal meth that inadvertently teach viewers how to make meth.
The writing style is accessible and clinical at the same time, and very crisp and engaging. Some parts are difficult to read; some scenes made me absolutely nauseous. This was a book I couldn’t put down, and would have read in one sitting if time permitted. I sobbed at the kitchen table during the first part, and teared up throughout the rest as well. I recorded some of my thoughts here at my book journal, but so many more remain ping-ponging in my head, even though I feel like I have a much better picture of the attack and its underlying circumstances now.
That seems to be the mark of a truly compelling book: it answers all the questions you never knew you had, and creates so many more in its wake.
