"The whole idea of life and consciousness is so ridiculous," Vollmann says on the phone from his home in Sacramento. In the story "The Grave-House," the protagonist is eternally stuck in a house where the closet and pillows and inanimate objects speak to him, urging him in a passive-aggressive way never to leave the house. Other stories, like "Listening to the Shells" - which Vollmann says is one of his favorites from the new collection - deal with subjects of memory and reality. Sometimes you feel like you're there for a purpose and if somehow you make people aware of a grim, frightening, discouraging thing, then someone else will fix it or we can somehow protect ourselves. Tony DuShane is a freelance writer who hosts the radio show "Drinks With Tony."