The DC Chronicles: Dave's Book and Broken Ankle Sagas

[Dave Cullen]

Hi, Dave...
I'm in the midst of reading Columbine now -- I got it to review for the college sociology course I teach on American Violence (I've been using the film Bowling for Columbine --  as well as Brokeback Mountain, too -- for the past several years.)

I have a question that I don't think is addressed in your book, though I did see a reference to Michale Morore's film and the Marilyn Manson scene.  But there is a strong implication by Moore that the shootings were influenced by two factors: the fact that the town of Littleton is home to Lockheed Martin, the missiles manufacturer, and the fact that Bill Clinton had ordered the bombing of Kosovo directly prior to the shootings. Of course, the statement is that we live in an ultra-violent society, and we shouldn't be surprised by teenage mass killings; rather than blame the killings on the influences of music, we should look at the actions of our own government.  My students think this is ludicrous, and what I've read so far of your book, you wouldn't agree with that premise either.  Any more thoughts on that that I could share with my students?

Sarah

Thanks for using it.

Ludicrous is a good word.

The killers planned Columbine for more than a year: long before Clinton bombed Kosovo. They had all the weapons, most of the ammo, had built the pipe bombs and started The Basement Tapes before that.

Decades ago, Lockheed Martin seemed to be a dominant employer in the area--when it was sparsely populated. But then massive numbers of subdivisions were built, bringing in people from all over. LM has a big facility south of there, with as many employees likely living in areas sending their kids to Chatfield and Dakota Ridge and various other high schools.

I think it's an incredible stretch to make a connection even if Lockheed was dominant--they're not; just made missiles--they don't, and they tend to get more publicity around here for their work in space exploration; or if high school kids were even very aware of the plant--I've never heard a single one mention it.

Wouldn't a much more obvious connection to the military for these boys be that Eric's dad had been an Air Force major and the family lived near military bases for 20 years?

That doesn't seem to have played a role either, but at least there's a plausible connection.

[CharlotteV]

Another rave review -- from the Charlotte Observer:

‘Columbine' truths are simple, powerful;
Journalist's detailed work corrects misconceptions, including his own

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/505/story/680158.html

[KittyHawk]

I like the way this review picks up on the love, courage, and redemption part of the story.
Many other reviewers and interviewers seem to have ignored the fact that there's much more than a massacre.

[chapeaugris]

Dave - greetings from the UK, I am very pleased to see that an excerpt from your book is in today's Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine
and I'll be sure to get a copy.
I very much hope to get along to whatever is arranged in London, good luck with all this, I have not seen your book on sale over here yet, but I check every bookshop I pass 

I read this excerpt and, just like all the reviews say, it was gripping. I was going to wait till I was in the UK this summer to buy it, but I went to Amazon immediately and ordered it. I wouldn't be surprised if this book makes its way onto high school curricula next year. Really well done, Dave.

[jack]

book tv just announced that the cullen interview wouldnot be going out live, but would be shown at a later date or time.

also...

while the column is about the bush administration and torture, FRANK RICH starts his current column by referencing dave and COLUMBINE.

The Banality of Bush White House Evil

   Frank Rich

WE don’t like our evil to be banal. Ten years after Columbine, it only now may be sinking in that the psychopathic killers were not jock-hating dorks from a “Trench Coat Mafia,” or, as ABC News maintained at the time, “part of a dark, underground national phenomenon known as the Gothic movement.” In the new best seller “Columbine,” the journalist Dave Cullen reaffirms that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were instead ordinary American teenagers who worked at the local pizza joint, loved their parents and were popular among their classmates.

On Tuesday, it will be five years since Americans first confronted the photographs from Abu Ghraib on “60 Minutes II.” Here, too, we want to cling to myths that quarantine the evil.

how's that for getting noticed in fancy circles ?

[ChrisW]

Dave - greetings from the UK, I am very pleased to see that an excerpt from your book is in today's Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/25/dave-cullen-columbine
and I'll be sure to get a copy.
I very much hope to get along to whatever is arranged in London, good luck with all this, I have not seen your book on sale over here yet, but I check every bookshop I pass 

I read this excerpt and, just like all the reviews say, it was gripping. I was going to wait till I was in the UK this summer to buy it, but I went to Amazon immediately and ordered it. I wouldn't be surprised if this book makes its way onto high school curricula next year. Really well done, Dave.

I bought the 'hard copy'; i.e. the Guardian Weekend magazine. It looks good and is  reasonably prominent; says absolutely nothing about Dave. Maybe they are saving that for another day, I hope so.

[KittyHawk]

The Guardian published an extensive review ten days ago - with a tiny mention of Dave. Actually it's almost more of a summary than a review.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/17/columbine-massacre-gun-crime-us

[Zudos]

You know when Dave is in London yet...? Hopefully not before Friday as I am in Cardiff until Thursday night...

[Dave Cullen]

You know when Dave is in London yet...? Hopefully not before Friday as I am in Cardiff until Thursday night...

some time next week. dates not worked out yet.

[Zudos]

You know when Dave is in London yet...? Hopefully not before Friday as I am in Cardiff until Thursday night...

some time next week. dates not worked out yet.

Thanks Dave. If you could avoid Thursday and Friday next week as I will be in Manchester 

Not that you need arrange your schedule around me 

[pattieono]

   When is it coming out on paperback?

[jack]

as an old bookseller, i will hazard a guess at 9 months to a year from hardcover pub...  and that may be a trade paer rather than pocket size.

if you live in the UK it is out in trade now .   

[KittyHawk]

For those of you following Dave's book tour via the media, Book TV has scheduled Dave's interview by Peter Slen to air
Saturday, May 2 at 6 pm and Sunday, May 3 at 3 am. It will be repeated Monday, May 11 at 2 am and again at 7 am.

If you're not a regular Book TV viewer, you can find it on your C-SPAN - 2 channel.

(Those times are EDT.)

[Dave Cullen]

Getting ready to do Ron Owens show in San Francisco.

[killersmom]

Got the radio tuned to listen!!

Oh and see you at 7:30 this evening!