FOUND #7: Feel A Connection

by Davy Rothbart (Editor)

Feel A Connection. What could be a more powerful way to connect with a stranger than reading the raw and intimate notes and letters they've left behind? Open a copy of FOUND #7 and you'll be dipped into a wide range of captivating lives -- a Baghdad-bound soldier, writing raps and reflecting on his flight to Iraq; the Almighty Patrick, a small-town pizza chef who dreams of life as a conqueror in the Middle Ages; two young women swapping the frankest and most hilarious sexual advice you'll ever read. FOUND #7 contains hundreds of finds discovered from Cleveland to Cameroon, including exotic Post-It Notes, surreal To-Do Lists, rude love letters, and eloquent rejections. Plus interviews with all-star finders Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) and filmmaker Ramin Bahrani, the story of Joel Coen's lost iPhone, and the true-life tale of Willis Earl Beal, who's responsible for perhaps the sweetest and oddest looking-for-love flyer ever created. Pick up FOUND #7 now and be the envy of your 'hood!

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

Davy Rothbart's magazine Found is dedicated to discarded notes, letters, flyers, photos, lists, and drawings found and sent in by readers. The magazine spawned a best-selling book, Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World, published in April 2004. A second collection was published in May 2006. The magazine is published annually and co-edited by Rothbart's friend Jason Bitner.

Rothbart, a former Chicago Bulls ticket scalper, often tours the country to share finds and invite others to share their finds with him. His brother, musician Peter Rothbart, often accompanies him on these tours.

The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, a collection of Rothbart's short-stories, was published in August 2005 by Simon & Schuster. A shorter version of the same book was previously self-published by Rothbart's own production company, 21 Balloons Productions (named after Rothbart's favorite book, The 21 Balloons, by William Pène du Bois). An Italian edition, Il Surfista Solitario del Montana, was published in 2007 by Coniglio Editore. In 2008, actor Steve Buscemi optioned the book for film adaption, to be developed by Olive Productions; Buscemi has written the screenplay and plans to direct.