CAILLOIS SPENT DECADES GATHERING MINERALS. TO HIM, THEY WERE FAR MORE THAN GEOLOGICAL CURIOSI- TIES. THEY WERE FRAGMENTS OF TIME, SILENT WITNESSES TO A WORLD THAT PRECEDED US AND WILL OUTLIVE US. THEIR SURFACES CONTAIN LANDSCAPES, FACES, AND IMAGINED FIGURES THAT EMERGE THROUGH PAREIDO- LIA, OUR INSTINCTIVE DESIRE TO RECOGNIZE FAMILIAR FORMS WHERE NONE WERE INTENDED. IN THEIR VEINS, COLOURS, AND IMPERFECTIONS, CAILLOIS FOUND A MIRROR OF HUMANITY AND A REFUGE FROM THE EPHEME- RAL NATURE OF LIFE. AROUND A TABLE, FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND STRANGERS SHARE THE SAME RULES, THE SAME SUSPENSE, AND THE SA...