"Previous studies of Robert Flaherty have tended toward the celebration of the legend rather than toward an examination of its sources or an assessment of its validity. The Vision of Robert Flaherty: The Artist as Myth and Filmmaker is the first book-length critical evaluation of Flaherty's approach, working methods, and achievements. While this is not a biography, Barsam's study rests on the proposition that no matter how hard one tries to separate an artist and his work, they each inform the other. Barsam examines both the form and the content of Flaherty's films with the intention of seeing more clearly the merits of Flaherty's films and thus understanding more deeply his achievements"--Back cover.