A review by spiderfelt
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan

2.0

The first part of the book was an interesting read for the Seattle history, but I found myself wishing there were more photographs. As the author described Curtis' travels and the photographs he took, I wanted to see what he was seeing, or at least see the pictures he captured. I requested some books from the library, and ultimately stopped reading this book and just focused on the supplementary reading. I wasn't able to finish the book before my book club met, but had enough of a sense of how the story was going to feel satisfied. There were long sections of the story that rehashed the same theme: passionate artist underappreciated by academics and wealthy establishment abandons family to pursue dreams. There is no doubt that Curtis achieved a Herculean task, without proper credit or compensation. The fact that he did not receive any support from the Smithsonian or the Bureau of Indian Affairs is terrible. The job was far too large, and far too costly to be managed by one person. However, this is a review of the book and not the man. I would not recommend reading this book if you want to know the stories behind the pictures.