{"product_id":"short-nights-of-the-shadow-catcher-the-epic-life-and-immortal-photographs-of-edward-curtis","title":"Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis","description":"\u003cb\u003eA New York Times Notable Book\u003cbr\u003e A Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan reveals the life story of the man determined to preserve a people and culture in \u003ci\u003eShort Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A vivid exploration of one man's lifelong obsession with an idea . . . Egan's spirited biography might just bring [Curtis] the recognition that eluded him in life.\" ​-- ​The Washington Post \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEdward 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 original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCurtis 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 that would redefine the history of photography, 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHow did one man with a grade-school education create the most definitive archive of a people? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Man of Contradictions: \u003c\/b\u003e Discover Edward Curtis, the famed society photographer and friend to presidents who sacrificed his career to spend three decades living among more than eighty tribes.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAmerican West History: \u003c\/b\u003e Go inside the monumental effort to create a 20-volume, 40,000-photograph, and 10,000-audio-recording masterpiece of American Indian life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn Advocate's Journey: \u003c\/b\u003e Witness the profound transformation of a detached observer into an outraged advocate for the people he set out to document.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePerilous Fieldwork: \u003c\/b\u003e From persuading the Hopi to allow him to witness their secret Snake Dance ceremony to navigating unforgiving landscapes, follow a story of tremendous perseverance.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51984251879655,"sku":"9780544102767","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_c48e6c42-a3f0-46f9-b6cd-b2543bf16f8c.jpg?v=1776314948","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/short-nights-of-the-shadow-catcher-the-epic-life-and-immortal-photographs-of-edward-curtis","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}