Rothbart, Davy 1976(?)–

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Rothbart, Davy 1976(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1976, in Ann Arbor, MI; mother a counselor and meditation instructor. Education: University of Michigan, B.A., 1996.

ADDRESSES: Home—Ann Arbor, MI. Office—Found, 3455 Charing Cross Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1911. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Found magazine, Ann Arbor, MI, founder and editor, 2001–; 21 Balloons Productions, Ann Arbor, cofounder; writer and filmmaker.

WRITINGS:

(Compiler) Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from around the World, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas: Stories, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A new "Found" book, expected in 2006.

SIDELIGHTS: One day, Davy Rothbart found a note stuck to his car. Someone's jealous girlfriend had mistaken Rothbart's automobile for her boyfriend's. Her note abounded with expletives and exclamation points but ended with the words "Page me later." Amused, Rothbart began showing the note to his friends, and he was surprised to discover that many of them had also found notes, lists, and other interesting discarded items through the years. From that aegis, Found magazine was born. Rothbart began his project modestly as a fanzine for his acquaintances. Today, Found has a national audience for its semi-annual issues, Rothbart gets ten or more "found" items in the mail every day from all around the world, and he has edited Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from around the World.

In an interview for the Boston Phoenix online, Rothbart discussed Found. "We're surrounded by strangers all the time: walking down the street, going to work, going to school, going to a friend's house. And I think it's natural to be curious what other people's experience of being human is like. And I think that's what these [found] notes give you, in such a powerful, kind of profound way." Some of the notes are funny, some insulting and peppered with foul language, and some are poignant on the feelings of being brokenhearted or losing a loved one. Rothbart happened to be in New York City on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Centers were destroyed. An issue of Found contains paper items he picked up that blew away from the buildings in the wind.

In a School Library Journal review of Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from around the World, Jamie Wilson wrote that "this book will appeal to anyone's inner eavesdropper and packrat instincts" and judged the book to be "excellent." A Publishers Weekly contributor appreciated Rothbart's "particular punk-collagist aesthetic," and called the work "a provocative and original book."

Rothbart is also author of a collection of short fiction titled The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas: Stories. Gilbert Cruz, writing in Entertainment Weekly, described the tales as "populated by mostly unlikable criminals, drifters, and con artists." A Kirkus Reviews critic thought that the "eight tales of youthful heartache and road-trip escapades" reveal an author who "writes with control, precision and compassion."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, August 5, 2005, Gilbert Cruz, review of The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas: Stories, p. 70.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2005, review of The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, p. 607.

Psychology Today, January-February, 2005, Carlin Flora, "Davy Rothbart," p. 96.

Publishers Weekly, January 26, 2004, "One Man's Trash," p. 186; March 29, 2004, review of Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from around the World, p. 47.

School Library Journal, November, 2004, Jamie Wilson, review of Found, p. 179.