Review
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* A New York Times Notable Book *An Best Book * A Publishers
Weekly Best Book * A Christian Science Monitor Best Book
"In this hauntingly beautiful book, Egan brings Curtis to life
as vividly and with as much depth, heart and understanding as
Curtis himself put into his timeless portraits. This is a story
for the ages." --Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt
and Destiny of the Republic
"An obsessive genius neglects his personal life and business
matters to pursue a great white whale. It's a familiar tale and
the essential narrative of Egan's terrific biography. . . . Egan
fills his chronicle with bright turns of phrase and radiant
descriptions . . . A sweeping tale about two vanishing ways of
life." -- Wall Street Journal
"A stirring and affectionate portrait of an underknown figure."
-- The New York Times Book Review
"Short Nights is not only the marvelous and rollicking account
of life of one of America's extraordinary photographers. It is
also a book about the extreme personal cost of outsized ambition.
Egan has found yet another great subject, and has crafted yet
another great narrative around it." -- S.C. Gwynne, author of
Empire of the Summer Moon
"In this extraordinary biography, Tim Egan has revealed a great
American adventurer who lived at the fragile, fertile
intersection of history, anthropology, and art." --Hampton Sides,
author of Blood and Thunder
"A vivid exploration of one man's lifelong obsession with an
idea . . .Egan's spirited biography might just bring [Curtis] the
re that eluded him in life." -- Washington Post "Egan is
a muscular storyteller and his book is a rollicking page-turner
with a colorfully drawn hero." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"A stunning portrait of Edward Curtis that captures every patina
of his glory, brilliance, and pathos." -- Christian Science
Monitor
"Egan brings liveliness and a wealth of detail to his biography
of the legendary photographer . . . A riveting biography." -
Boston Globe
"Inful and entetaining . . . Egan's excellent book stands as
a fitting tribute to an American original who fought for a people
with his camera and his art." -- Los Angeles Times
"[A] captivating tribute to a treasured American and the
treasures he created."-- Dallas Morning News
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From the Back Cover
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A New York Times Notable Book
A Best Book of the Year
Christian Science Monitor, .com, Publishers Weekly
A vivid exploration of one man's lifelong obsession with an idea
. . . Egans spirited biography might just bring [Curtis] the
re that eluded him in life. Washington Post
Edward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate
aineer, 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 continents 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 s, 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.
A darn good yarn. Egan is a muscular storyteller and his book is
a rollicking page-turner with a colorfully drawn hero. San
Francisco Chronicle
"A riveting biography of an American original." Boston Globe
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