Joe Pernice writes books informed by his experience as a musician. Even though his debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop (Riverhead, $25.95) is about growing up, music is as important as plot. Which is why, in addition to reading tonight, Pernice will also perform some of the songs that feature prominently in this belated coming-of-age tale. In the book, our slacker hero’s band receives an unceremonious rejection letter from Sub Pop Records. In real life, Pernice and the now-defunct Scud Mountain Boys recorded for that label in the ’90s. And more, Sup Pop’s Jonathan Poneman recently asked Pernice to record a song from the book, “Black Smoke (No Pope),” a nice case of art-into-life. Only things aren’t going so well for the nameless artist who narrates It Feels So Good. He’s a guy experiencing the dreadful twenty-something realization that he’s full-grown, on his own, and nowhere near prepared for the trappings of adulthood. Just your typical angst-ridden college grad with an English degree, a band, and no direction whatsoever. And if that sounds like every indie rocker who ever strummed a Strat, Pernice would probably admit the same. And maybe of himself, too. SARA BRICKNER

Tue., Aug. 25, 9 p.m., 2009