Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World

by Davy Rothbart

Paperback, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

AM501.L67 F68

Series

Found (1)

Genres

Publication

Simon & Schuster (2004), Edition: Illustrated, 256 pages

Description

Discarded valentines. Ransom notes. To-do lists. Diaries. Homework assignments. A break-up letter written on the back of an airsickness bag. Whether they are found on buses, at stores, in restaurants, waiting rooms, parking lots, or even prison yards, these items give readers an uncensored, poignant, and often hilarious peek into other people's lives. By collecting them in his hit magazine, Found (and its companion website, www.foundmagazine.com), Davy Rothbart has bewitched the nation with a surprising window into its heart and soul and turned his many readers into an army of sharp-eyed finders. Found is chock-full of the latest and greatest of these finds, arranged in the style of the magazine, laying bare the tantalizing tales to be discovered in the trash we toss. By turns heartbreaking and hysterically funny, Found is a mesmerizing tribute to everyday life and our eternal curiosity about our fellow human beings.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Spoonbridge

Ever since coming across this book, I’ve been obsessed. The hilarious, the horrifying, and the heart wrenching accounts of the wonders of everyday life, fresh from the streets where they were abandoned has struck some kind of cord with me, and now I frequent the Found Magazine website, have

searched out back issues of Found Magazine, and am amassing my own collection of unique documents left by who knows who (Who IS Steve? one asks, and no answer is given). I can really say that this book has helped look at other people in a new light, giving me a new sense of empathy towards humanity. Everyone loves, everyone feels pain, and this collection provides a perfect way to view the human condition.

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LibraryThing member INTPLibrarian

Probably would have loved it, but there were too many entries that had handwriting that was too difficult to read. I got frustrated with that.

LibraryThing member jon1lambert

Oh yeah - these neatly written throwaways just happen to be picked up at random. I've hardly ever found anything mildly amusing or publishable lying on the ground. I must be looking in the wrong place.

LibraryThing member name99

A lightweight volume, of course, but definitely amusing.

LibraryThing member MerryMary

A fascinating scrapbook-like collection of intriguing items (mostly paper items) people have found in odd places. Love notes, to-do lists, self-help admonitions, legal papers, half-told tales...the variety is amazing. You can't help but try to finish the stories in your mind, when you get this tiny

glimpse into the plot of people's lives.

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LibraryThing member melydia

This book is kind of amazing. Yes, it's filled with assorted found items (mostly handwritten notes), but what gets me is how it looks like the whole thing was laid out by hand and photocopied, like a higher-quality version of a zine. It's also not the sort of thing you can just casually flip

through. I found myself repeatedly sucked into the stories of these strangers, at times sad and hilarious and maddening - sometimes simultaneously. It's inspired me to look down from time to time to see what treasures lay at my feet. I also have a couple things I may yet send in.

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LibraryThing member scote23

The idea of looking at Found stuff intrigued me, especially as it was a lot of notes. However, I got bored with the notes, as they weren't always all that interesting. I eventually just gave up. I do have to say that the algebra test in the book makes up for almost all of the boring stuff.

LibraryThing member mstrust

A break-up letter written on an airplane barf bag, longing letters sent from jail, photos of happy celebrations, lots of very talented doodles and one deflated balloon with a wish tied to it that said "I wish I won't flunk sixth grade!" The book is filled with objects sent in to the author because

of his Found magazine. It's a homage to humanity. Misspelled but heartfelt declarations of love and lust, notices for unusual lost items, musicians looking for a band, angry back and forths between teenagers in class, a couple that are clearly suicide notes, and notes left on windshields of people who can't park. All the mess that humans can put on paper.

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