The thing that moves me in art is specificity; a basic gesture can be memorable if the artist really thinks about the details. In the current production of “Cabaret,” when Herr Schultz presents Fraulein Schneider with a pineapple, he has to insert it into a paper bag. This becomes an erotic act; Schneider stumbles because of the new, massive “rod” in her “bag.” It’s an excellent choice. A picture book I like—“A Chair for My Mother”—tells a simple story. A little girl lives with her single mother, who is a waitress. One day, the apartment goes up in flames. The town rallies around the little girl; life begins again. But Mom doesn’t have a comfortable chair. After a lengthy savings campaign, the family discovers they are capable of purchasing a new chair. Hooray! That’s the end. The reason this book is a classic is its tiny, tiny observations. For example, the girl notices that “some days, Mom comes home from work and she is half-awake, and other days, she is laughing because of a ...