It won the National Book Award, and well-earned. This June, Mr Egan won the Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for his newest book, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher. I just read Booklist's review, by Brad Hooper. Hooper collected persuasive comments from Egan about why he wrote this book, now; I won't steal from him but let you enjoy it directly. Luckily Short Nights is already on order. Check with us at the library to reserve your turn to read it.
The Shadow Catcher was Edward S. Curtis, famous today for photos like this (Evening in Hopi Land shows three Hopi women gathering water in a sepia photograph):
In the Booklist interview, Mr Egan praises Nathaniel Philbrick's, The Last Stand, a book about the Battle of Little Big Horn (below). It is already in the library. Last year I read Mr Philbrick's Why Read Moby Dick. We also have his Mayflower in the stacks, one I've had my eyes on for a while.
History is neither dry nor boring when presented by these authors. They present driving drama and humanity, full of foibles. If you gave up on nonfiction back in school because of textbooks, I hope you will give one of these a try. If I am wrong, please let me know (in the comments below or during a visit to the library). Thanks!
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