Maslin Stands Alone
The NYT‘s reviewer, the one who is usually attuned to popular literature and not turned off by heavily-marketed books, Janet Maslin, took surprising umbrage with Columbine, by Dave Cullen, this week.
Other reviewers have a different take:
People, 4/20, gives it their highest rating, four of a possible four stars — “a riveting assessment… like Capote’s In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and what of a hoorrifying indicent to lay bare the devastating why.”
Entertainment Weekly, also gives it their highest rating, a solid “A,” “Dipping into this book was not something I looked forward to, and yet, from the very first page, I could not put Columbine, Dave Cullen’s searing narrative, down.”
Los Angeles Times, 4/3, David L. Ulin, Columbine, by Dave Cullen, “a book that hits you like a crime scene photo, a reminder of what journalism at its best is all about.”
The Daily Beast, 4/7, The Secrets of Columbine , “a great piece of journalism, the likes of which we rarely see anymore.”
It’s currently at #64 on Amazon. I predict NYT bestseller status as of next week’s lists (it’s already on the Denver Post Nonfiction list a #7 and the and the Indie Nonfiction list at #41).
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