While the question of “why?” in regards to the Columbine tragedy may seem like kind of a duh question to you and I, author Dave Cullen and anyone else over 40 during the time of the incident were left scratching their heads to the skull and blaming the playstations and the Marlyn Mansons and trenchcoat mafias and other trivial distractions.

Kelbold and Harris weren’t exacting revenge on a society that scorned them. They were fucking crazy. End of discussion. It would seem in the light of even the most preliminary of evidence that this is a logical conclusion. Not so, says Cullen, who spends 432 pages explaining that the Columbine killers did it because they were (gasp) “psychotic”. No fucking doye, dude. What other breathtaking revelation are you gonna lay on us next? Michael Jackson has had plastic surgery? Bruce Willis’ character at the end of Sixth Sense was actually a ghost?

Anyway. This books seems, at best, a waste of time and money and, at worst, an exploitation. In spite of all that, the cover is still pretty cool.

I’d go so far as to say boarderline groundbreaking. Most big publishing house releases, when they try to go for stark and profound end up fucking it all up by putting a big ugly blurb on there or placing the authors name and credits in a conspicuous place. Not so for this one. Helvetica font floating like a ghost above a photo of the infamous school on an overcast day. A perfect execution of understatement, proving that not much is needed to solemnly remind the average American of the chilling and horrific act that took place that day.