PARKLAND

An incisive study of one of the past year’s most significant
mass shootings, with publication tied to the one-year anniversary.

Cullen spent 10 years researching and writing his book Columbine (2009),
which meticulously documented the Colorado high school massacre, with an
emphasis on the two students who planned it. This time, in the aftermath of the
tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, committed
by a former student on Feb. 14, 2018, the author has produced an impressively
deep account in just 10 months. Never naming the murderer of 14 students and
three staff members, the author focuses on surviving students who coalesced to
promote gun control by spreading their message, encouraging voter registration,
and seeking to influence legislatures at the local, state, and national levels.
Starting with his initial coverage of the story for Vanity Fair just
after the shooting, Cullen immersed himself with the students, many of whom
left classes to tour the nation. Throughout the book, the author demonstrates
his rapport with the students as well as Parkland parents, teachers, and
community leaders. When he deems it appropriate and relevant, Cullen
effectively compares and contrasts the Columbine and Parkland experiences. As
he notes, his years of immersion in the Columbine tragedy left him with
secondary PTSD, so diving in to the Parkland aftermath felt personally risky.
However, he persisted, believing that the hopeful messages of the students
would outweigh the darkness. Chronicling how the mostly middle- or upper-class
Parkland students eventually expanded their crusade to address other issues
related to guns, Cullen memorably captures many of the interests they share
with often stereotyped inner-city teenagers from violent neighborhoods. In
nearly 60 pages of detailed endnotes, the author expands on the revelations in
the main narrative, discusses his information-gathering methods, and discloses
potential conflicts of interests due to the close relationships he has formed
with survivors.

In both Columbine and this up-to-the minute
portrait of the Parkland tragedy, Cullen has produced masterpieces that are
simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful about a saner future.