Steve Earle will perform at the Englert on Tuesday.

Root rocker and author Steve Earle will read from his new novel “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Prairie Lights in Iowa City with a book signing and Q&A following. The reading is free and open to the public. Earle also will perform at The Englert Theatre later that evening.

Earle’s long anticipated debut novel, “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” imagines the troubled life of Doc Ebersole as he is haunted by the ghost of his former patient and friend, Hank Williams. Thomas Cobb, author of Crazy Heart, stated “This is an impressive debut novel. The characters are unforgettable, and the plot moves like a fast train. A fantastic mixture of hard reality and dark imagination.”

Musically, Earle is a master storyteller in his own right. In the strictest sense, Earle isn’t a country artist, he is a roots rocker. Earle emerged in the mid-’80s, after Bruce Springsteen had popularized populist rock-’n’-roll and Dwight Yoakam had kick-started the neo-traditionalist movement in country music. His unwillingness to conform to the rules of Nashville or to rock-’n’-roll meant that he never broke into the mainstream. Instead, he cultivated a dedicated cult following, drawing from both country and rock audiences. He remains a vital element in contemporary American music.

Performances

• 4 p.m. Tuesday (8/7) | Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City | Free
• 8 p.m. Tuesday (8/7) | Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City | $35