• Ceremonial Violence

  • Understanding Columbine and Other School Rampage Shootings
  • By: Jonathan Fast
  • Narrated by: Joe Caron
  • Length: 11 hrs
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (83 ratings)

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Ceremonial Violence  By  cover art

Ceremonial Violence

By: Jonathan Fast
Narrated by: Joe Caron
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Publisher's summary

Ceremonial Violence analyzes 13 school “rampage” shootings—including the Columbine High School massacre—and explains, for the first time, why teenagers commit these tragic atrocities. With his grasp of the elements of abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, sociology, and neurology that contribute to the homicidal mindset, Fast offers us a means of understanding and coming to terms with these shootings, and provides examples of what we should look for as early signs to prevent further tragedies.

©2009 Johnathan Fast (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Our adolescent massacres are, as Jonathan Fast, a professor of social work, astutely observes in his new book, a type of terrorism, but we have a hard time seeing them as such…Fast, in search of a more illuminating explanation, has made an in-depth study of 13 incidents." (Salon.com)
"Detailed and thoroughly researched… Fast does an excellent job of revealing what these broken children had in common." ( Kirkus)
"A penetrating examination of the nation’s school shootings…outlines clear and realistic goals for educators, community leaders, parents, and students that could help prevent these violent attacks." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

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What listeners say about Ceremonial Violence

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting, but not as in depth as I wanted

When I purchased this book, I was looking for an in depth psychological analysis of school shootings, but what I got was fairly superficial.
The first 8 chapters just recounted various school shootings, while the last chapter is the only one that even tried to address the why and how to prevent them. I felt like I spent 8 chapters waiting to get to the meat of it and then they only gave me a bacon bit. There were some really good assertions in those chapters but they were never really explored for example, suppressed homosexuality, which was mentioned a few times and is an interesting concept given the role it played in the recent Orlando shootings.

If you know nothing about school shootings, this will update you on all the famous American ones. If you are already a crime buff and are looking for a piece on criminal psychology, keep looking.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Author and Content, Sub-par Performance

Where does Ceremonial Violence rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I know some errors are due to the editor not paying attention, but the narrator need take a "cliffs notes" lesson in the stories they read. One moment he pronounces the boy's name McKay and then Makai (as it should be) and then three words later back to McKay. Same with Cassie, apparently her name is Casey.

Any additional comments?

There were quite a few errors in the shootings I know a lot about, so the stories that I'm not familiar with, I'm not sure I can count on the facts, being facts. Such as, Columbine happened on Tuesday, April 20th, 1999 and not Monday, April 20th 1999. Also, Dylan Klebold was the one who used the Tec-9 during the shooting, not Eric Harris. There were far too many details to list all of them, but if you are familiar with any of these shootings, you will see.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Anti-gun propaganda

I liked the in-depth look at the shooters and case studies, but the overwhelming opinion of the author who is obviously anti-gun really took away from what could have been completely enjoyable. Keep your propaganda out of my listening!!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lots of insight into mass shootings in America

Particularly in the light of recent events, this book provides an excellent professional analysis of the dynamics involved in mass shootings.

Very disturbing, but educational. A must read for anyone who wants to engage with others in a meaningful debate regarding reasonable gun reform laws!

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful if outdated

The music is awful. Music does not belong in audio books- it is a distraction. This book should never have had a soundtrack.
The book is older and sadly we have learned more about rampage shootings. The points made are valid.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a timely book

well researched and written. the author dismisses the media portrayal of school shooters, great job.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Choppy Narration

No story line. Just a choppy list of facts sped through by narrator. Not enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not entirely accurate

Some of the information on the Columbine shooters is incorrect. This leads me to believe that some of the other information is probably also incorrect.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Biased and partly incorrect.

Fast's conclusions are partly wrong as other PhD psychologists have shown, as well as the 2021 USSS school threats report. Bullying may be a factor but it is not the crux. He is also blatantly liberal in his push for anti gun. This chapter long biase shows this book should be a chronological and basic incident reference. Gun accessibility, again, is a factor, but not the crux. Fast does have note worthy points and as long as his conclusions are taken from the point of view of a social worker and not of a psychologist.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

If you like crime stories

I learned a lot about crimes I hadn't heard of before from this book. It was a great listen as I listened from start to finish with ease because it kept me enthralled. As most stories about school violence it gave most time towards the Columbine killings, but that can be expected. I had no idea that before Columbine there was many other occurrences of school violence that was just as crazy however it was not national news due to the times. I would recommend this book if you can stomach hearing about children dying and being hurt. It can get graphic.

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