Answer: Grossman's book is called "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society." He claims to have coined the term, "killology." He has a newer book, "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence." He lives in Jonesboro, Ark., site of a shooting at Westside Middle School.
The questions are up to you, but here are a few: What affect did the Jonesboro experience so close to home have on your theories? You've been an expert witness defending children who have killed; you appear to have complicated feelings about them; are you sympathetic to them, as you are to soldiers? How did your theory develop? Some say you suggest that you understate the willingness of humans to kill; don't we have too many killers, not too few? How have Nintendo and the other game manufacturers reacted to you? You're not a social scientist; why don't you show any uncertainty in your statements? What remedies do you recommend?
How do I find that? You can search for books at Amazon (and other book vendors) by words in the title, and last name of the author. One you find the book, you often can read quick reviews. Here's the search form. Note that the search form on the Amazon home page is quick, but lame. To do a detailed search, you'll want to choose Books, then Book Search. Once you know the name and the name of the book, you can find many references to Grossman's theories on the Web. For help, read the tutorial on Web searching.
Comment: This is an example of how a commercial Web site (Amazon) can be useful for journalists. Note that once you search, Amazon offers to send an E-mail whenever Grossman has a new book; this is a great help for reporters on any subject. Grossman isn't famous, but he's been just public enough to have plenty written about him on the Web. You might, if you had more time, search Newsgroup messages mentioning him, at Google's newsgroup search (formerly Deja.com). And if you send a ProfNet request before you leave for the speech, you might find some professors you could interview after the speech.
How do I know this is right? In this case, we're just looking for enough to go on to ask good questions. A lot of the Web seems to be best for that: Not great for finding answers, but for asking better questions.
How do I attribute this? I would use the book title without attribution, though I have seen some errors in the Amazon book listings. As for the hometown, best to ask Grossman if he still lives there. And a call to the editor of the newspaper in Jonesboro wouldn't be a bad way to gather some background.
Go on to Question 5
A primer on Web searching is available at http://PowerReporting.com/altavista.html.
You can reach Bill Dedman by e-mail at Bill@PowerReporting.com.
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