jonathan_lee_b's review against another edition
5.0
Requiem for a Paper Bag is trail mix with sour candy.
xanfranco's review against another edition
I really enjoyed it. It's a good mix of stories from different people. I especially enjoyed Andrew Bird's short story.
fschulenberg's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Fun, quick, reflective stories and accounts of found objects. This book had a large amount of odd ties to Ann Arbor... even though Adam bought it for 5 Euros in an outside book display in Paris. Perfect for travelling.
ktlove's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good mix of stories....some bring a smile to the face, some make you sad, some are--for lack of a better word--meh, and some are just laugh out loud funny. A neat take on the whole "Found" magazine ethos.
georges's review against another edition
4.0
This book was it's own found object. It was hidden under a stack of other used books at a book fair in central-Virginia. A found anthology in every sense of the word. I'm not sure why I bought it. It wasn't the Drew Barrymore blurb on the back, that's for sure. It may have been the simple pull of the cover art or the potential of a collection that includes Miranda July,Steve Almond, Sarah Vowel, and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien . What I discovered was an anthology of lost things found, but also short stories inspired by contextless clues, lists, urban poetics, and the smudges of human existence left on the windows of abandoned cars. This anthology is utterly charming.
otterno11's review
3.0
I have been an avid fan of Davy Rothbart’s Found Magazine since reading his first Found book and have frequented the Found website, picked up back issues of the magazine, and searched for my own finds ever since. Found remains one of my favorite books, and I too have been captivated and intrigued by the intimate (voyeuristic?) look into the lives of other people through the finding and collecting of lost items, of all types. Apparently, I am far from alone. In this work, Rothbart collects short essays and stories (generally no more than a page or two) by a wide variety of prominent and semi-prominent creative types (artists, musicians, writers, etc) responding to the mysteries, joys, sadnesses, triumphs, and failures of human life through the theme of “finding” things.
The pieces are extremely diverse in their subject matters, ranging from comics to poetry, with some writing fictional accounts of the imagined back stories to such finds, and still others expressing favorite personal finds that changed their lives in various ways, others responding and reflecting on some of Found magazine’s more interesting discoveries. Though a few might have drifted a bit from the theme of reflecting on the lost detritus of human culture to reflect on one's own life in relation to others, I enjoyed the latter essays the most. Kimya Dawson, in particular, expressed the feelings behind the special way of getting an inside view of what it is like to be another, anonymous person by finding a lost piece of the detritus of life. On the other hand, descriptions of and fictional stories based on find items lacks a bit of the mystery and self-reflection of simply displaying the finds themselves. I did enjoy this anthology, and it is a great celebration of Found by fellow devotees for fellow devotees, but it just doesn’t have some of the pure joy, randomness, and mystery of other Found magazine publications. It is well worth a read from Found fans but others should definitely read Found magazine first.
The pieces are extremely diverse in their subject matters, ranging from comics to poetry, with some writing fictional accounts of the imagined back stories to such finds, and still others expressing favorite personal finds that changed their lives in various ways, others responding and reflecting on some of Found magazine’s more interesting discoveries. Though a few might have drifted a bit from the theme of reflecting on the lost detritus of human culture to reflect on one's own life in relation to others, I enjoyed the latter essays the most. Kimya Dawson, in particular, expressed the feelings behind the special way of getting an inside view of what it is like to be another, anonymous person by finding a lost piece of the detritus of life. On the other hand, descriptions of and fictional stories based on find items lacks a bit of the mystery and self-reflection of simply displaying the finds themselves. I did enjoy this anthology, and it is a great celebration of Found by fellow devotees for fellow devotees, but it just doesn’t have some of the pure joy, randomness, and mystery of other Found magazine publications. It is well worth a read from Found fans but others should definitely read Found magazine first.
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