To Catch the Lightning: A Novel of American Dreaming [Hardcover]

Longtime NPR commentator Cheuse returns with his ambitious if not entirely successful ninth book, a novel based on the life of Edward Curtis, the photographer who in 1904 dedicated his life to creating a pictorial record of Native American tribes. Narrated by Curtis's assistant, William Myers, the novel also tells the story of Jimmy Fly-wing, a Plains Indian who leaves his tribe to learn the ways of the white man and aids Curtis in his quest. Curtis's passion for his project is palpable, and his dedication forces him to choose between his family and his work. Though he becomes estranged from his wife, Clara, he is rewarded by the faith and gratitude of many of the peoples he photographed and by glimpses into secret tribal traditions. Though the historical material is often compelling, the novel's focus can diffuse as Cheuse moves between the narrative strands and struggles to keep the story moving over 50 years. When not stuck in the doldrums, the narrative brims with keen insight. (Oct.)
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Fame, of course, is fleeting, but immortality belongs to those bold enough to chase it. At least in sheer volume of images, Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868–1952) will never be surpassed as the greatest photographer of Native Americans in any century. Long before digital photography made capturing images so simple children can do it, Curtis devoted his life to creating the most significant and comprehensive retrospective of American Indian culture, which he viewed as "one of the great races of mankind." Curtis correctly predicted that the culture was near extinction. With the patronage of J. P. Morgan, Curtis's lifelong passion was generously funded, and much of his work remains the only recorded history of a civilization even then becoming the stuff of legend. Curtis's body of work, thousands of photographs, recordings, and writings can be viewed in the Smithsonian, and in reprints of The North American Indian, the forward to which was written by one of Curtis's clients, Theodore Roosevelt.



Alan Cheuse, who has served for more than two decades as NPR's "voice of books," and the author of three prior novels, several short story collections, two novellas and works of nonfiction, uses the historical roots of Edward Curtis's life to spin an engrossing tale of sacrifice, passion, and devotion to purpose not often exhibited by any man.



Edward's desire to complete his destiny as foretold by Chief Joseph, to photograph all 80 of the American Indian Tribes, clashed with his deep longing to live a quiet family life with his wife, Clara, and their four children. What man or woman among us fails to lament the sacrifices we make for worthy work? Edward's skill as a portrait photographer was exhibited in Seattle, Washington, and brought him to the attention of Theodore Roosevelt. He might have lived the safe family life and left a legacy of portraiture as well as a strong family. Yet, he chose to journey where no white man had gone before nor would go again. Immortality cost Curtis dearly.



Intertwined with Edward's story is the story of Jimmy Fly-Wing, a Native American allegory character Cheuse uses to provide depth of insight into the culture Curtis sought to preserve. Perhaps the novel's most engrossing moments are the chapters containing Jimmy Fly-Wing's tales.



But for Cheuse's deeply researched novel, Edward Curtis and his work might have become lost to modern readers. This story will appeal to a wide audience interested in the history of the American West, Native American culture, and the origins of photography. To Catch The Lightening will, once again, bring both fame and immortality to Edward Curtis and Alan Cheuse. (October) M. Diane Vogt

(ForeWord 20080901)

A pensive, sometimes ponderous imagining of the life of renowned photographer Edward Curtis, who ran away from the urban circus to join the Indians.

Curtis's sepia-tint photographs are well known. His life is not. NPR book critic Cheuse (The Fires, 2007, etc.) attempts to situate Curtis in a historical time and within the context of the man's long and interesting, if somewhat chaotic, life. This might have worked better as a biography than a novel, had not Laurie Lawlor's Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis (1994) been first to market. As it is, Cheuse is forced to provide so much exposition in the story that, if it were a movie, the narrative would be more voiceover than image; this has the effect of slowing the narrative down and, from time to time, forcing it into cul-de-sacs. That said, Cheuse's approach to Curtis, who wanted nothing more than to escape the stifling city and the close confines of his marriage to roam the plains and deserts with the last unimpounded Indians, is sympathetic and affecting; says the book's narrator to the photographer, "You're an unusual man but you're not more than human," and indeed Curtis emerges as lifelike but never larger than life. By Cheuse's account, Curtis's chief blemish is a kind of proprietary jealousy: He would sooner smash his glass-plate negatives, irreplaceable though they may be, rather than see them fall into the hands of his estranged wife, and so he does. Borrowing a page from Doctorow and perhaps Brian Hall-whose imaginings of the lives of famous men are much more vivid blends of fact and fiction-Cheuse studs the narrative with historical figures from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecil B. DeMille, who move the story along even as they helped Curtis in real life.

A worthy effort, if a touch too elaborate, illuminating unknown corners of a great photographer's life.
(Kirkus 20080801)

Vivid and poignant, flaws and all, Cheuse's ambitious historical novel illuminates one
man's heroic obsession and the perpetual dichotomies of duty and dream, discovery and loss.
(Booklist 20081001)