glom not only supports more than string keys, it also supports assigning to non-dictionary objects. That's a part of the API we're working on right now, actuall

glom not only supports more than string keys, it also supports assigning to non-dictionary objects. That's a part of the API we're working on right now, actually. As for the data insertion, mutation may be in the future, but for now glom only transforms and returns new objects. Definitely something to think about though, bookmarked! :)