'Nuclear Family' fallout: Joseph Han's stunning debut novel

The sociological construct of "nuclear family," signifying a familial unit whose members all live together. Joseph Han's first novel, "Nuclear Family," explodes it, leaving you with the spectacle of the mushroom cloud.

Reynaldo Hahn's piano music; also near and Faure

Reynado Hahn, the boyfriend of writer Marcel Proust, gets a new recording of his 'Poemes & Valses' performed by Pavel Kolesnikov, Also reviewed: Gabriel Faure's 'Complete Songs; performed by tenor Cyrille Dubois and pianist Tristan Raes.

Ocean Vuong's rainbow afterglow: poet returns with 'Time Is a Mother'

One true way to envision Ocean Vuong is as, if not The Survivor, a survivor. His newly released second book of poems was occasioned by the silence that enveloped him after the death of his mother.

Scaring up Stravinsky: Simon Rattle returns to the three ballets

The London Symphony Orchestra's recording of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring,' conducted by Simon Rattle, reminds us what a still-stunning piece 'Le Sacre' is. Also, gay barihunk Stephane Degout sings Ravel.

A wee boy's own story: Douglas Stuart's 'Young Mungo'

Douglas Stuart has carried forward from his Booker Prize-winning debut novel Shuggie Bain into its follow-up, 'Young Mungo.' What it shares with its predecessor is a brutal honesty about some lurid familial connections.

The work of sex: Michal Witkowski's 'Eleven-Inch' addresses sex as survival

'Eleven-Inch.' Polish novelist Michal Witkowski's ninth book, bracingly rendered by his regular translator W. Martin, shares the picaresque chronicle of two teenagers on the lam from their politically oppressive homelands in Eastern Europe.

The good son: Neel Patel's 'Tell Me How To Be'

Akash, the protagonist of Neel Patel's debut novel, 'Tell Me How To Be,' ralphs at important family gatherings, behavior that evinces a certain sincerity in a clan infested with secrets.

Christophe Rousset plays rediscovered harpsichord classics

One of the most "baroque" things about the work of out early-music maestro Christophe Rousset is what a prodigious prodigy he is. His most recent harpsichord recording is the 'Le Manuscrit de Madame Theobon,' which he found on eBay.

Saving Saint-Saëns: 'Carnaval des Animaux' and other works

Camille Saint-Saëns has gotten a comparatively bad rap as being 'superficial.' New and recent recordings may prove that bias wrong.

New views of Oscar Wilde

Will we ever catch up to the genius of Oscar Wilde? Two new books, an expansive biography, and the letters the author wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas, offer new discoveries.

Igor Levit performs Shostakovich's 'Passacaglia on DSCH' in 3-CD set

Pianist extraordinaire Igor Levit has made new recordings of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, and Ronald Stevenson's towering Shostakovich tribute: the Passacaglia on DSCH.

Daley's news: Gay Olympian Tom Daley's memoir's a splash

Tom Daley's mesmerizing story in his new memoir includes his medal wins in Tokyo, at the age of 26 his fourth Olympics. But for all the candor in his story, there's little room for self-congratulation and none for self-proclaimed heroism.

Pajtim Statovci's 'Bolla'- Depredations of love and war

Pajtim Statovci's unlikely success with his first three novels may have had more to do with their subjects' being au courante than with the author's staggering literary genius. In his latest, he adds the depredations of love and war.

Lil Nas X unleashes 'Montero'

Lil Nas X continues to strut his out gay stuff with what the industry welcomed as his "debut album," 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name),' after all the individual tunes dropped in spellbinding –some called them explicit– music videos.

Magic Mann: Colm Toibin's novelization of 'Death in Venice' author's life

In 'The Magician,' Colm Toibin's novelization of the Thomas Mann biography, the 'Venice' tale is resurrected, like the Proustian madeleine, in all subsequent examples of Mann's sweet tooth for comely youth.

Greek love in the ranks: The Sacred Band's 300 lover-warriors

In 'The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom,' classics scholar James Romm doesn't just tell: he tells all. A mass grave of Theban soldiers carefully and deliberately buried in pairs. Make that couples.

'Proust, le Concert Retrouve' recreates author's music salons

In 'Proust, le Concert Retrouve,' pianist Tanguy de Williencourt and violinist Theotime Langlois de Swarte usher us directly into the music salons hosted by French author Marcel Proust.

Ruth Coker Burks' 'All the Young Men' - a big-hearted memoir

Reading 'All the Young Men,' Ruth Coker Burks' big-hearted memoir, brings that singular kind of consolation, and even joy, that comes with the finding of meaning in tragedy.

Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

Eddie S. Glaude Jr.'s new book about James Baldwin -and what it meant to be an African-American and gay writer- joins a shelf of books whose timings is perfect.

And one for Mahler: 'Otello' and Mahler's eighth symphony, for your listening pleasure

Jonas Kaufmann's performance as the lead in Verdi's 'Otello,' and a new recording of Mahler's eighth symphony, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin, are reviewed.

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