Found Magazine: The Early Years

by Davy Rothbart, Sarah Locke

THE EARLY YEARS is packed with hundreds of all-time favorite finds from the first four issues of Found Magazine, now retired from print (FOUND #1, FOUND #2, FOUND #3, FOUND #4), and also features an engaging 25-page introductory essay by founder Davy Rothbart, which traces the magazine's D.I.Y. roots and his personal journey with FOUND.

220 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2014

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.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for a friend and accidentally had it shipped to my house- whoops! It came with some great finds, two letters and a very awkward prom picture. It has been years since I first picked up a Found book and the memory I had of it was so happy and nostalgic. This particular edition wasn’t as great as the ones I’ve seen in the past- it sort of went through the making of Found, which was interesting, but I felt that the constant snippets by Davy were ultimately distracting from what I love about these books. I also found some of the commentary to lean towards bullying, which I loathe.