According to the website of Found magazine, which was started by Davy Rothbart in 2001, the publication accepts “anything that gives a glimpse into someone else’s life.” The only condition is that the material has been, well, found—in the street, in an old book, on the windshield of a car, wherever. The result is a hodge-podge of to-do lists, old photographs, love letters, notes of apology, and children’s homework assignments. Ordinary as they may be, the finds tend to be unintentionally hilarious or poignant, and often both.

In his new collection of essays, Rothbart, who is best known as a