Look What I Found

Every once in a while I take the time out to recommend something here that some of you might never have heard of. Today I thought I'd take just a minute to mention Found magazine.

Found is simply a repository of actual things that people have found -- mainly notes, letters, and photographs. Just lying on the ground or in an old trunk in the attic or under the floorboards of the house. The finder never knows who the found objects belong to or who is involved with them. That's the point. They are anonymous glimpses of other lives. The great thing is that so many of them tell a story all by themselves. I occasionally go to their website, where you can breeze through a number of the things people have found and sent in. Recently, though, I got the book Found by Davy Rothbart, and I've been enjoying it even more than I thought I would.

I suppose in a way it's a voyeuristic kind of thing to read someone else's notes or letters (although the editors usually change or blackout the names, if any). Sometimes it's just a shopping list with some surprising additions. Sometimes it's a love note. Oftentimes, it's an angry note that was apparently left on someone's car or window. Without any kind of actual context, though, we're left to fill in all the blanks ourselves, and that's why I like it. Every entry in the book (or website) is really its own short story. If you use your imagination, you can come up with all sorts of details about the people involved (because, unless it's a note written to oneself, there's obviously always at least two people involved in every note or letter).

One of my favorites from the book is a posted, handwritten sign regarding a lost leather jacket. But the writer didn't just offer a reward. He explained the entire circumstance involved with losing the jacket and a long tangent of why the jacket meant so much to him. In just a couple of paragraphs, you learn so much about the guy, his life, and his personality, it's really amazing.

Another one I like is a note from a (probably grade school age) boy to a girl, asking which of the boys in the class she likes. With youthful, earnest, and perhaps naïve clumsiness, the writer betrays his hopes that she will pick him and tries (and fails) to be cool and aloof.

If you do go to the website or check out the book, keep in mind that since these are real notes and letters and whatnot, written by real people, sometimes it can have some harsh language.

The things you find in Found give a great deal of insight into human motivations and emotions. Certainly better and more real than any reality show on television.

 

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