Lauren St John: Hardcore Troubadour: the Life and Near Death of Steve Earle (Fourth Estate)

STEVE EARLE’S life is a gift for biographers, a rock'n'roll fuck-up who came back from the dead with his intelligence and integrity intact. Most stars who manage to kick habits wind up extolling the virtues of carrot juice and personal trainers. Earle, by contrast, chooses to ask why an American should be so disaffected with his own country that he joins Al-Qaeda.