Illinois author chronicles desperadoes
MACOMB -- With outlaws, John Hallwas has found out that psychology is as important as a six-shooter.
Hallwas, an English professor emeritus at Western Illinois University, has written 20-plus books on the state's history. In the early '80s, he wrote a magazine piece about Ed and Lon Maxwell, brothers who went from being horse thieves in McDonough County to wanted men throughout the Midwest.
After first painting a portrait of the killing duo, Hallwas went on to other endeavors. But he kept stumbling across more and more information about the siblings.
No books had been written about them; in the late-19th century heyday of the Maxwells, authors tended to prop up moral and upright figures, not two reprobates from the sticks. But, to the amazement of Hallwas, newspapers had splashed story after story about the Maxwells.
"I didn't realize how big of figures they'd become," he says.
Thus, after a decade of intense research, Hallwas finished "Dime Store Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers," released this month by the University of Illinois Press ($29.95). But Hallwas' book does more than retrace their steps. Its detail-rich 402 pages try to bore into their minds, thanks especially to a journal left behind by Lon Maxwell.
"I realized we could get inside these two characters more than usual with American outlaws," Hallwas says. "There was so much that could be said about American violence and the American outlaws."
As he studied the Maxwells, Hallwas found that the brothers' story rode themes, as reflected in the book. They faced alienation, because of the childhood poverty triggered by their parents' livelihood as tenant farmers. They drifted, never feeling part of a moral order or community. And they suffered from the common "myth of manliness," as Hallwas puts it: that men were and are assertive in responding to even the slightest provocations. Hallwas offers no excuses for the brothers, just possible explanations.
"All human beings are more complex than what we give them credit for," Hallwas says.
In all, Hallwas has written and edited about 30 books and monographs, with most focused on area literature and history. His novels include "The Bootlegger: A Story of Small-Town America," which was completed in 1998 and was nominated for a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
Hallwas recently talked about his visions for the novel and the deeper issues behind the writing of his book as well as the characters and their actions and choices. That included studying the "powerful, life-shaping forces" that caused the main characters' lawless actions.
He also discussed his work as a writer and how the events of his life shaped the themes he chooses for his works. Several of his novels, including "Dime Novel Desperadoes," deal with the relationships and identities of individuals within a community.