Dave Cullen, Author of 'Columbine'
A Four Part Video Interview With The Author of 'Columbine'
Interview by Kasey Carpenter
One of the best non-fiction books I have read in a long time, is Dave Cullen's Columbine. Released last year, the book went on to become a New York Times bestseller. But what it also did was clear up a lot of the gray smoke still shrouding the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High. For years, the media had gotten the story drastically wrong and has depicted Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's motives incorrectly. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on the scene that day, but what set him apart was that he was not associated with any media 'pack' (CNN, Fox, etc). Instead, he was freelancing at the time for Salon.com. This important detail, and the fact that he spent close to ten years researching and then writing the book, make Columbine the most definitive exploration into the Columbine tragedy that exists.
For our interview, Kasey Carpenter, longtime Workshop member turned journalist, flew out to Denver, CO to visit with Dave at his writing studio. Dave, being a burgeoning enthusiast for video, set up his handy HD flip and over the course of four 10-14 min segments talked about everything from the media, to the killers, to even the publishers that released the book.
Below are the four segments of the entire interview. We had to set up a brand new Vimeo account to house all these, as YouTube won't let you go past 10 mins clips unless you're the Whitehouse. Enjoy!
Interview W/ "Columbine" Author Dave Cullen, Part 1 (4) - "Why Columbine?"
Interview W/ "Columbine" Author Dave Cullen, Part 2 (4) - "12 Books"
Interview W/ "Columbine" Author Dave Cullen, Part 3 (4) - "The Media"
Interview W/ "Columbine" Author Dave Cullen, Part 4 (4) - "Advice For Writers"
Kasey Carpenter writes ad nauseum on the subject of wine and looks to his ongoing fiction projects for balance. When he hits/neglects his wordcount, he just might throw up a post at www.kaseycarpenter.com.
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Comments
Wow. You flew out for the interview? That's dedication. Good job.
Columbine is easily one of the best books I've read in the past year or so. Highly recommend it.
I can't begin to describe how damn good this book is, the writing and research are impeccable. I recommend it highly even if you think you know enough about the subject. I thought I did, and everything I remembered was wrong. It's especially interesting how Cullen explains why this is.
Well done, Kasey!
Yep, loved this book. Great job on this, Kasey. My favorite is the 4th and last clip, where he gives about 14 mins worth of advice to writers. Good stuff in there.
Josh - Thanks, well it helps that my wife works in the airline industry
and Dave was so jazzed about being on this site, he wanted it in video, so we went with it, knowing that we both are not videographers by any means.
Ology - second to none on the subject itself IMHO, and no offense to Kass. Also one of the better examples of writing non-fiction in an entertaining narrative that one typically associates with fiction. This book, though exhaustive, was a breeze to read. THAT is solely due to the talent of the author.
Mirka - thanks, Dave gives us all the real stuff, in detail, to back up everything written. I'm glad he wasn't working for one of the larger outlets, he just might have gotten it wrong like the rest of them.
Dennis - That was my favorite too, glad you concur. Off camera he TOTALLY berated me for being lazy about my projects (which I needed/need) and gave me all kinds of good advice, most of which is covered in the vid.
Awesome interview. I enjoyed part 4 a lot, too, and it reminded me that I need to remove the internet computer from my office! It was also cool to hear about his work with the publishers and the pack reporting effect.
Yeah I liked the fact that he (used to) have one machine that was dedicated to the internet, and one that was completely without it, off the grid as it were. Clevenger said many times he would just have to turn the wifi off his laptop, but I could see myself giving into that temptation rater easily...
Look for an interview with 12 Books in the near future, they represent the best in publishing, summed in the words of Dave Cullen's agent who flat out told him: "You know you've died and gone to publishing heaven don't you?"
Hey, thanks for all those.
I've been so crazy moving to NYC the past month, I only had time to listen to the first two. (Plus, I was scared about what I might have said. Haha. Please don't tell Ms. O about the heavy eyeroll immediately before speaking The Name.)
I also shuddered every time I launched into a private story about people like Jon. I tend to get comfortable with people like Kasey and then just blurt out whatever I think. One day I'm going to get myself into serious trouble.
I'm jumping ahead to #4 now, based on Dennis, Misterwoe and Kasey's advice. Maybe I'll stumble into something I can use.
Hmmmmmm. It does take me awhile to make a point. Guess that's why I work on the page--I can edit out all the blather on the way there.
And I only got myself in trouble twice on this one. Hopefully my friend Tim will never watch this, nor any of my eight siblings--especially the one who quietly loaned me the money to keep me afloat. I seem to have a tell: I roll my eyes or at least take a deep pause, which is where I'm thinking, "Hmmmmmm. I better not say this . . ." immediately before brushing that aside and blurting it out. Hahaha. Do I ever listen to that voice? Once you know me, you can actually see the wheels spinning. And yet the outcome is always the same. Haha. The guy who runs that part of my brain must have major self esteem issues.
...is this why the book was originally 900 pages long? Sorry, couldn't resist.
And congrats on the move, just keep your promise to me about becoming one of those authors who write about NYC. I think we're good on NYC based novels for the next millennium.
I enjoyed the book. I've been recently having difficulty reading, in a real slump. And this book has easily pulled me out of that.
Hey, youtube has changed and now allows 15-minute videos:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/book_trailer/youtube_encourages_15_...
And good call on the 900 pages. Haha. Thank God for editors.
Jmiz, how cool to help pull you out of that slump. I hope it led to some other great books.
I own 'Columbine' by Dave Cullen. It's no less than amazing. It's hands down one of the best books I've ever read. I highly recommend it.