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

This book, I can barely explain how powerful it is. These little found articles are perfect fragments of thrown-away life. It's weird and often hysterical and sometimes very, very sad. I often wonder about the authors of some of the notes. Why they weren't saved- Did the reciever of this letter throw it out? Was it a draft thrown out by whoever wrote it? Some of the broken lives, I hope that they've been mended. Some of the pieces are so emotional and give such an image of such a moment. They're terrific. They pull me out of my world and into the world of countless strangers. I love it. This is a terrific collection.

Rothbart has taken a brilliant idea and executed it to a tee. I first heard of this book through www.foundmagazine.com. The randomness and unintentional comedy carries tremendous appeal. The author, with the help of a volunteer army of trash hunters, find the treasure of others' trash. My personal favorite was a sign that said simply "Steve" with a bunch of vertical tearaway "Steve"s on the bottom. (Done in the style of a laundrymat ad.) Others have found evidence of epic battles, heartwrenching breakups and untold mysteries. The greatest outcome -- you begin to wonder who these people are, what context the note was in, and how their various conflicts have since resolved. The imagination runs wild with the possibilities. In that way, the book almost functions as one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, with you the reader filling in the empty spaces. A great "find," pun definitely intended.

Davy Rothbart and the gang at "Found" magazine have turned out a truly original gem. The concept is simple: people find things that they were not intended to find, and send it in to Davy, who sorts the wheat from the chaff and comes up with a pithy book of insight on the American psyche. Some of the things that have been found are unreal. I am particularly fond of the love letters and notes left on double parked cars. Others are simply too bizarre to try to contextualize, such as notes reading "Warning: The iguana is loose on the porch...", and "If the ball is too loud take it up when you sleep and put it back down when you get up", for instance. But my all time favorites are the lost pet flyers. Now I love animals, and I think it is a real tragedy when someone loses a pet, but these flyers made me laugh so hard I almost fell off my chair (you really need to see them for the full effect): "Loss Cat: Speckles, Does not call when come, Dirty, Not tag, Reward needs medicines. Foam. Call Ward." Best of all is "Lost Cobra Color: brown, black, yellow, red (on teeth), blue (color of tongue) Snake has been known to bite off heads. Snake is not house trained. Answers to "Psycho". Length: 7' Weight: 45 lbs Warning, snake is deadly. Will bite if provoked. Psycho has a strong scottish accent." As hard as I try, I could never make up something that funny. Some of the things are genuinely touching, and some are quite old. A few are from outside the US, but largely this is a peek into the collective subconscious of America. This book is a national treasure.

I keep this on my coffee table. Everyone who comes by my place picks it up, leafs through for a minute or two, then sits down and starts reading. And then we're always late, as I try to get them to put the book down and they read "just one more." Not that I blame them. Each page is more than a collage of worn notes or ripped photographs - they are untold stories, mysteries that will never be resolved. Did the lovers reconcile? Was the note discarded in anger by the recipent or was it never sent at all? Did Mario ever clear his muddied name? Now I walk with my eyes cast downward, looking for a crumpled bit of paper that could be ordinary trash, but just might be something worth finding.

I laughed and cried my way through this book, couldn't put it down. It mixes the ludicrous, the joyful and the heartbreaking, offering a clear view into human nature. I see myself and those around me on every page, but with a loving heart fostered by Davy's sense of humor. I find myself wanting to know these people, actually seeing I DO know them, for they are me!What I love most is that Davy had the wisdom to take these scraps we all see as trash and recognize them as rich compost, ready to be reborn into a fascinating source of wisdom, to delight us, surprise us, and to foster our ability to laugh at ourselves and our world. They show us at our best, worst and most vulnerable, show all our loves and fears. The book is a true teacher of compassion!While Davy says there's no special order, the book fit together perfectly for me, leading me from one insight to another, one laugh to another. The layout that looks like a collection of scraps is perfect for the contents.