Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis

In the summer of 1900, Edward Curtis gave up a successful photography career to pursue a quixotic plan: to photograph all the Indian communities in North America. He quickly learned that his subjects were dying off fast, so he d need to hurry if he was to capture the essence of their lives before that essence disappeared. A mountaineer, explorer, intrepid photojournalist, and amateur anthropologist, Curtis was Ansel Adams crossed with Annie Leibovitz, a willful and passionate chronicler of a people he came to love. I want to make them live forever, Curtis said in the early days of his decades-long mission. As Egan s thrilling story attests, he succeeded, even though he died penniless and alone. --Neal Thompson