Skip to main content
Trade Books For Courses Tradebooks for Courses

30 Before 30

How I Made a Mess of My 20s, and You Can Too: Essays

Marina Shifrin

Wednesday Books

opens in a new window
opens in a new window 30 Before 30 Download image

ISBN10: 1250129710
ISBN13: 9781250129710

Trade Paperback

336 Pages

$19.99

CA$27.25

Request Desk Copy
Request Exam Copy

TRADE BOOKS FOR COURSES NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive information about new books, author events, and special offers.

Sign up now

A charming, relatable and hilarious collection of essays documenting a young woman's attempt to accomplish thirty life goals before turning thirty.

Something was nagging Marina Shifrin. As a freshly minted adult with student loan payments, a barely hospitable New York apartment, a “real” job she hated that paid her enough to get by if she also worked two other jobs, something needed to change. Over a few bottles of Two Buck Chuck, Marina and her friend each made lists of thirty things they’d do before the age of thirty. The first thing on Marina’s list was, “Quit My Shitty Job.” So she did, and just like that the List powered her through her twenties.

In 30 Before 30, Marina takes readers through her list and shares personal stories about achieving those goals. Ranging in scope from the simple (Ride A Bike Over the Brooklyn Bridge, Donate Hair) to the life-changing (Move to A Different Country, Become internet Famous), each story shows readers that we don’t all have it figured out, and that’s okay. But for Marina, she did become internet famous (a viral video of her quitting her job after moving to Asia has nearly 19 million views on You Tube) and now writes for Comedy Central’s hit show @Midnight, is also an in-demand stand up, and had a very popular Modern Love column published in The New York Times.

Reviews

Praise for 30 Before 30

"Marina Shifrin is like a millennial David Sedaris—so 30 Before 30 is kinda like reading Me Talk Pretty One Dayby the light of your iPhone. This collection of writing is essential reading for anyone who is under thirty and wants to figure out how to live and be a cool person."—Moshe Kasher

"Shifrin gives readers a taste of what successful self-deprecation looks like; she constantly pokes fun at herself, analyzing the situations she put herself in and figuring out how they affected her journey. An entertaining bucket-list tale."Kirkus Reviews

"[Shifrin] proves an affable narrator, combining humor with self-effacement . . . In Shifrin's journey to confidence and success, she provides a genuinely inspirational example without ever taking herself too seriously."Publishers Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads

BOOK EXCERPTS

Read an Excerpt

A LITTLE INTRO, IF I MAY …


I am moments away from turning thirty, and as I look back on my sloppy, sexy, sometimes sweet twenties, one thought runs through my head: “I dominated.” I don’t have this kind of confidence...