diff --git a/lib/process_shared/shared_memory.rb b/lib/process_shared/shared_memory.rb
index 2a2459c..fe0cd3f 100644
--- a/lib/process_shared/shared_memory.rb
+++ b/lib/process_shared/shared_memory.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 require 'process_shared/rt'
 require 'process_shared/libc'
 require 'process_shared/with_self'
+require 'process_shared/shared_memory_io'
 
 module ProcessShared
   # Memory block shared across processes.
@@ -44,7 +45,9 @@ module ProcessShared
                            LibC::PROT_READ | LibC::PROT_WRITE,
                            LibC::MAP_SHARED,
                            @fd,
-                           0)
+                           0).
+        slice(0, size) # slice to get FFI::Pointer that knows its size
+                       # (and thus does bounds checking)
 
       @finalize = self.class.make_finalizer(@pointer.address, @size, @fd)
       ObjectSpace.define_finalizer(self, @finalize)
@@ -52,9 +55,47 @@ module ProcessShared
       super(@pointer)
     end
 
+    # Write the serialization of +obj+ (using Marshal.dump) to this
+    # shared memory object at +offset+ (in bytes).
+    #
+    # Raises IndexError if there is insufficient space.
+    def put_object(offset, obj)
+      io = SharedMemoryIO.new(self)
+      io.seek(offset)
+      Marshal.dump(obj, io)
+    end
+
+    # Read the serialized object at +offset+ (in bytes) using
+    # Marshal.load.
+    #
+    # @return [Object]
+    def get_object(offset)
+      io = to_shm_io
+      io.seek(offset)
+      Marshal.load(io)
+    end
+
+    # Equivalent to {#put_object(0, obj)}
+    def write_object(obj)
+      Marshal.dump(obj, to_shm_io)
+    end
+
+    # Equivalent to {#read_object(0, obj)}
+    #
+    # @return [Object]
+    def read_object
+      Marshal.load(to_shm_io)
+    end
+
     def close
       ObjectSpace.undefine_finalizer(self)
       @finalize.call
     end
+
+    private
+
+    def to_shm_io
+      SharedMemoryIO.new(self)
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/process_shared/shared_memory_io.rb b/lib/process_shared/shared_memory_io.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1164575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/process_shared/shared_memory_io.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,309 @@
+module ProcessShared
+  # Does some bounds checking for EOF, but assumes underlying memory
+  # object (FFI::Pointer) will do bounds checking, in particular the
+  # {#_putbytes} method relies on this.
+  #
+  # Note: an unbounded FFI::Pointer may be converted into a bounded
+  # pointer using +ptr.slice(0, size)+.
+  class SharedMemoryIO
+
+    attr_accessor :pos
+    attr_reader :mem
+
+    def initialize(mem)
+      @mem = mem
+      @pos = 0
+      @closed = false           # TODO: actually pay attention to this
+    end
+    
+    def <<(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def advise(*args)
+      # no-op
+    end
+    
+    def autoclose=(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def autoclose?
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def binmode
+      # no-op; always in binmode
+    end
+
+    def binmode?
+      true
+    end
+
+    def bytes
+      if block_given?
+        until eof?
+          yield _getbyte
+        end
+      else
+        raise NotImplementedError
+      end
+    end
+    alias_method :each_byte, :bytes
+
+    def chars
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+    alias_method :each_char, :chars
+
+    def close
+      @closed = true
+    end
+
+    def close_on_exec=(bool)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def close_on_exec?
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def close_read
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def close_write
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def closed?
+      @closed
+    end
+
+    def codepoints
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+    alias_method :each_codepoint, :codepoints
+
+    def each
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+    alias_method :each_line, :each
+    alias_method :lines, :each
+
+    def eof?
+      pos == mem.size
+    end
+    alias_method :eof, :eof?
+
+    def external_encoding
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def fcntl
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def fdatasync
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def fileno
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+    alias_method :to_i, :fileno
+
+    def flush
+      # no-op
+    end
+
+    def fsync
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def getbyte
+      return nil if eof?
+      _getbyte
+    end
+
+    def getc
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def gets
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def internal_encoding
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def ioctl
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def tty?
+      false
+    end
+    alias_method :isatty, :tty?
+
+    def lineno
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def lineno=
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def lines
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def pid
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    alias_method :tell, :pos
+
+    def print(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+    def printf(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def putc(arg)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def puts(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    # FIXME: this doesn't match IO#read exactly (corner cases about
+    # EOF and whether length was nil or not), but it's enough for
+    # {Marshal::load}.
+    def read(length = nil, buffer = nil)
+      length ||= (mem.size - pos)
+      buffer ||= ''
+      
+      actual_length = [(mem.size - pos), length].min
+      actual_length.times do
+        buffer << _getbyte
+      end
+      buffer
+    end
+
+    def read_nonblock(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def readbyte
+      raise EOFError if eof?
+      _getbyte
+    end
+
+    def readchar
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def readline
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def readlines
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def readpartial
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def reopen
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def rewind
+      pos = 0
+    end
+
+    def seek(amount, whence = IO::SEEK_SET)
+      case whence
+      when IO::SEEK_CUR
+        self.pos += amount
+      when IO::SEEK_END
+        self.pos = (mem.size + amount)
+      when IO::SEEK_SET
+        self.pos = amount
+      else
+        raise ArgumentError, "bad seek whence #{whence}"
+      end
+    end
+
+    def set_encoding
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def stat
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def sync
+      true
+    end
+
+    def sync=
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def sysread(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def sysseek(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def syswrite(*args)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def to_io
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def ungetbyte
+      raise IOError if pos == 0
+      pos -= 1
+    end
+
+    def ungetc
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    def write(str)
+      s = str.to_s
+      _putbytes(s)
+      s.size
+    end
+
+    def write_nonblock(str)
+      raise NotImplementedError
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    # Like {#getbyte} but does not perform eof check.
+    def _getbyte
+      b = mem.get_uchar(pos)
+      self.pos += 1
+      b
+    end
+
+    def _putbytes(str)
+      mem.put_bytes(pos, str, 0, str.size)
+      self.pos += str.size
+    end
+
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/process_shared/shared_memory_spec.rb b/spec/process_shared/shared_memory_spec.rb
index d635157..cc1abb5 100644
--- a/spec/process_shared/shared_memory_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/process_shared/shared_memory_spec.rb
@@ -32,5 +32,30 @@ module ProcessShared
 
       mem.get_int(0).must_equal(1234567)
     end
+
+    describe 'Object dump/load' do
+      it 'writes serialized objects' do
+        mem = SharedMemory.new(1024)
+        pid = fork do
+          mem.write_object(['a', 'b'])
+          Kernel.exit!
+        end
+        ::Process.wait(pid)
+        mem.read_object.must_equal ['a', 'b']
+      end
+      
+      it 'raises IndexError when insufficient space' do
+        mem = SharedMemory.new(2)
+        proc { mem.write_object(['a', 'b']) }.must_raise(IndexError)
+      end
+
+      it 'writes with an offset' do
+        mem = SharedMemory.new(1024)
+        mem.put_object(2, 'string')
+        proc { mem.read_object }.must_raise(TypeError)
+        proc { mem.get_object(0) }.must_raise(TypeError)
+        mem.get_object(2).must_equal 'string'
+      end
+    end
   end
 end