To be an inanimate object must be, I fancy, a very uninteresting affair. Certainly, being one appears to have a disastrous effect upon the disposition. No one who has had any intercourse with ...

In What the Fud? a conversation between a woman and a plastic swan provides a humorous meditation on our feelings about everyday objects, and especially, junk.

It’s a simple piece, made by my paternal great-grandfather, what one might call a “moveable kitchen counter,” with shelves on top going up to the ceiling. Underneath are four drawers down the center, ...