Stray grocery lists, castaway love letters, loose homework assignments -- these fragments of our most private selves intrigue Davy Rothbart. When he's not writing short stories or playing basketball, Rothbart, 29, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, produces Found magazine, a compilation of misplaced and discarded artifacts.
Found is about snooping on strangers. Are you a voyeur?
Absolutely. But a certain degree of voyeurism is healthy. It's natural to be curious about other people's experience of being human.
But you've made a career out of it.
I want to know what people want badly and what they are afraid of. Part of the human condition is to be lonely; what makes it less lonely is seeing that same part in other people.
So you want to corroborate your experiences?
That's part of it. Other people's joys and sorrows register within me at a high level of potency. There's an allure to feeling a lot. And some of it just has to do with curiosity. I'll eavesdrop on two valets talking about how it's a bad night for the parking business, because I'm interested in hearing specifics.
How do other people's experiences of being human differ from yours?
They don't. People get caught up in badly wanting things to happen a certain way. People regret things in their past. And they enjoy the small moments in life. You can see this in notes that friends write to each other -- they're about something the teacher said or how someone smiled at them. What makes people happy varies widely -- but they are all these small, fleeting things. I've read thousands of letters about heartache. It makes my own heartaches not less real but more temporary. I realize mine is a drop in a tidal wave. Any one thing that might happen to me won't drown me.
Why are you so sensitive? Does the trait run in your family?
Yes -- my mom is a counselor and meditation teacher; it's her job to be sensitive. And because she's deaf, we all use sign language and read lips, which makes us very attuned to people's expressions. It helps me with eavesdropping, too.
And I've never gone out to dinner with my dad when he hasn't gotten into an in-depth conversation with the waitperson. Maybe Found is a combination of my dad's extreme interest in strangers and my mom's compassion.
Tags:
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joys and sorrows,
love letters,
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moments in life,
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playing basketball,
potency,
private selves,
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valets,
voyeurism
