Edward Curtis was dashing, charismatic, a passionate mountaineer,a famous photographer-the Annie Liebowitz of his time. And he was thirty-two years old in 1900 when he gave it all up to pursue his great idea: He would try to capture on film the Native American nation beforeit disappeared. At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, Egan's book tells the remarkable untold story behindCurtis'siconic photographs, followinghim throughout Indian country from desert to rainforest as he struggled to document the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. Even with thebacking of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan, it took tremendous perseverance-six years alone to convince the Hopi to allow him into their Snake Dance ceremony. The undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. He would die penniless and unknown in Hollywood just a few years after publishing the last of his twenty volumes. Butthe charming rogue with the grade-school education had fulfilled his promise-his great adventure succeeded in creating one of America's most stunning cultural achievements.

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A New York Times Notable Book A Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionNew 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 vivid exploration of one mans lifelong obsession with an idea . . . Egan's spirited biography might just bring [Curtis] the recognition that eluded him in life.'The Washington Post Edward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate mountaineer, and a famous portrait photographer, the Annie Leibovitz of his time. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. 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. Curtis spent the next three decades documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty North American tribes. It took tremendous perseverance ten years alone to persuade the Hopi to allow him to observe their Snake Dance ceremony. And the undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. Curtis would amass more than 40,000 photographs and 10,000 audio recordings, and he is credited with making the first narrative documentary film. In the process, the charming rogue with the grade school education created the most definitive archive of the American Indian.