Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan

In the process, the charming rogue with the grade school education created the most definitive archive of the American Indian. Curtis would amass more than 40,000 photographs and 10,000 audio recordings, and he is credited with making the first narrative documentary film. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher - Discussion Questions - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. And the undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. It took tremendous perseverance - ten years alone to persuade the Hopi to allow him to observe their Snake Dance ceremony. But when he was thirty-two years old, in 1900, he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent's original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared.Ĭurtis spent the next three decades documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty North American tribes. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher restores him to his rightful place as a sensitive master photographer and a staunch advocate for indigenous rights. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. Egan's new book does much to explain Curtis's methods and motives, the difficulties and vicissitudes of his work, and the broader contexts of his 'Big Idea' (41). His book on the Dust Bowl, THE WORST HARD TIME, won a National Book Award for nonfiction. Egan's spirited biography might just bring the recognition that eluded him in life.' - The Washington PostĮdward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate mountaineer, and a famous portrait photographer, the Annie Leibovitz of his time. TIMOTHY EGAN is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of ten books, including the forthcoming, A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND, which will be released on April 4. 'A vivid exploration of one man's lifelong obsession with an idea. New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan reveals the life story of the man determined to preserve a people and culture in Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.

A Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan