The book's lead character is both an 'object of' desire and an 'object of' pity. [=the lead character is both desired and pitied by other characters in the book]
When they take a vacation, 'money is no object'. [=they don't worry about how much something costs] They always stay at the most expensive places.
If 'cost was/were no object' [=if cost did not matter; if we had enough money] we'd buy a new car instead of fixing the old one.
(..) - She's a real charmer. - Oh. - I see you met Mrs. Cobb. - She's his wife? Yeah. So a totem. You need a small object, potentially heavy. Something you can have on you that no one else knows. ARIADNE: Like a coin? ARTHUR: No. It needs to be more unique than that. (..)2010 Inception