An excellent telling of the life of Edward Curtis, who made the multi-volume collection of The American Indian his life's work. So deep was his passion for the project that he ultimately completed the work without compensation or rights to the completed volumes. Recommended for those interested in photography, anthropology, and the history of the American West. ( )

I recommend this book for its well-written account of Edward Curtis's work in documenting the moving story of native Americans through his iconic photographs during the most rapid period of their persecution and cultural assimilation. The story does seem to include reconstructed or recalled conversations in places that raise doubts about the balance between gripping story-telling and historical veracity, and there are too few of Curtis's evocative photographs, which are more often described than displayed. But this is a memorable and important story for everyone of how the lives of individuals and even entire nations are evanescent and too easily misrepresented or forgotten. ( )

Completed Audible version...The images that accompanied the audio version did not load on my tablet which was frustrating. The narrator's voice seemed more suited to movie trailer voice overs - everything was bold and emphatic. Egan's writing was compelling, thoughtful, and informed. It was not an academic thesis but a story of a Curtis' life work. ( )

Excellent story of Edward Curtis and his dedication and drive to photograph the vanishing tribes of the American Wes by an award winning author. (read by David Drummond) ( )

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan is about the life of Edward Curtis, a photographer who dedicated his life to capturing the rituals, culture and stories of North American Indians in, what he believed to be their last days. While the name Edward Curtis didn’t mean much to me, I definitely recognized many of his pictures. During the first half of the 20th Century, Curtis travelled the continent, and is responsible for many classic shots. He was also able to photograph Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and Chief Red Hawk before they passed away.

He appeared to be totally obsessed with his mission and in order to fund his travels and equipment, he pretty much traded off all rights to his work. His most important mentor was J. P. Morgan, but Curtis took very little for himself. When he died in 1952, he was broke and forgotten. Some twenty years after his death, a treasure trove of his pictures came to light and his work is lauded today for it’s artistic and educational value. During his career, Curtis took more than 40,000 photographs, preserved 10,000 audio recordings and is credited with making the first narrative documentary film.

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher reads like an adventure novel as Timothy Egan captures the life of this talented yet obsessed man. From the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to the high mesas in New Mexico and on to the Salish Indians on the Pacific Coast, he visited more than eighty tribes altogether which resulted in a 20 volume work entitled “The North American Indian”. This was an excellent read about a fascinating subject. ( )