Pushing 30 [Paperback]

Whitney Gaskell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2003

“The one thing you should know about me is this: I’m the consummate Good Girl. . .”

Ellie Winters is dependable and loyal and has a near-phobic aversion to conflict. But as her thirtieth birthday looms ever closer, she starts to feel like she’s lost the instruction manual to her life. She has just broken up with her boring boyfriend, despises her job, and is the last of her high school friends to remain single. Worse, her dysfunctional family is driving her nuts, and she’s somehow become enslaved to her demanding pet pug Sally, who she suspects is the reincarnation of Pol Pot.

One night, after a botched attempt to color her hair at home, Ellie rushes to the drugstore for emergency bleach, Sally in tow. Sally is accosted by a smitten canine admirer . . . but it’s the dog’s owner who captures Ellie’s attention. Television news anchor Ted Langston is witty, intriguing, and sexy. The only catch? He’s twice her age--and the only man on the planet who isn’t interested in dating a younger woman. And no one, from Ellie’s best friends to Ted’s ex-wife, wants to see them get together.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gaskell's sprightly debut tackles one of the great chick-lit dilemmas-how to turn 30 in style. For "consummate Good Girl" Ellie Winters, a snappy but unlikely D.C. litigation attorney, it means breaking up with her staid boyfriend, getting highlights, tossing aside The Rules and diving headfirst into a May-December romance with sexy Ted Langston, a cable TV news big shot. Their first meeting is comically, familiarly inauspicious: his mutt begins "humping at" her pug outside the all-night drugstore where Ellie has gone to buy hair bleach to fix her initial hair-coloring disaster. Upon a later chance encounter at a fund-raiser, though, Cupid's arrow hits its mark. Problems quickly arise on their first date, when Ted puts Ellie's age at 38 or 39, sending her self-esteem into a tailspin and her credit card to the Clarins counter ("The next time he saw me I'd have skin like a baby's bottom, and he'd be full of jealousy... in comparison, he was just a shriveled old geezer"). Meanwhile, Ted decides their 23-year age difference might be insurmountable. After another serendipitous meeting, the flame is rekindled-and then snuffed again. For all the on-again, off-again nature of their affections, readers will see the happy ending coming from miles away. But Gaskell's breezy prose, sharp wit and skillful interweaving of Ellie's struggles-with her boring job, with Ted's nasty ex-wife-keep a fluffily familiar plot from becoming stale cotton candy. Ellie's self-absorption may rival that of a reality-TV dating contestant's, but her down-to-earth appeal as she moons over dazzling Ted, her demanding dog and the ups and downs of the lives of family and friends makes her a delightful romantic comedy heroine.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Take one hapless, likable Good Girl (Ellie Winters). Place in prestigious, lucrative, yet personally unfulfilling profession (litigation attorney). Set in bustling glamorous city (Washington, D.C.). Add one brash and sexy best friend (Nina) and one dashing prominent potential boyfriend (Ted Langston). Toss in some professional drama (coworker Katherine trying to sabotage an important case), romantic competition (Ted's ex-wife, Alice), and an overbearing mother (Gloria). Watch everything explode in the heroine's life as she loses both job and boyfriend and experiences Thanksgiving from the Black Lagoon. See Good Girl rally, with support of best friend and dog, to start over with new self-confidence and creative stress-free job. The latest entry in the chick-lit derby is a fun, fluffy read with some formula scenarios and cliched dialogue--Good Girl meets boyfriend wearing a highlighting cap under a baseball cap to hide the disastrous dye job; Good Girl screams at Mother during horrendous dinner party, "It's my life, not yours!" Recommended for collections that can't keep enough of this subgenre on the shelves for fans. Kaite Mediatore
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553382241
• ISBN-13: 978-0553382242
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi! My name is Whitney Gaskell, and I'm the author of PUSHING 30, TRUE LOVE (AND OTHER LIES), SHE MYSELF & I, and the forthcoming TESTING KATE.

For more information about my books, check out my website at www.whitneygaskell.com, and also my blog at www.literarychicks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Loved It!, April 14, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pushing 30 (Paperback)

After finally doing something out of character (by doing something for herself), Ellie dumps her longtime boyfriend. When a hair coloring incident goes awry, she flees to the nearby drugstore to remedy the situation, and her pug Sally is immediately accosted by amorous pooch, Oscar. Of course, Oscar is attached to a very attractive man named Ted, which is just Ellie's luck, considering the state of her appearance. After a second meeting at a banquet, the two start talking and hit it off. At a romantic dinner, Ted and Ellie find that they have a lot in common. Until 52 year old Ted finds out that Ellie is only 29. Ellie's shock at being mistaken for someone older is priceless. Divorced Ted wants nothing to do with the whole "I'm in a mid-life crisis so let's get a young chick" scenario that so many men his age are currently into, after all, he has his reputation as a news anchor to protect. But Ted cannot seem to deny his feelings for Ellie, as the two live in the same neighborhood and keep bumping into each other. Many misunderstandings result in some poignant and sweet situations, including unsupportive friends and annoying exes.

"Pushing 30" is an engaging and humorous look at the May-December romance between a lawyer (who'd rather be an artist) and a famous newscaster. It's a great story of one woman's quest for empowerment while bridging the gap into an adult relationship. I really loved this book - I checked it out of the library based on the cover art alone, read it in a day, and decided I wanted my own copy! I like first person narrative - I like seeing a story unfold as the protagonist does, as well as the insight that the narrative provides. This was a great first book - looking forward to starting her next one!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light and fun!!!, June 28, 2004

By 

Diane Moore - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Pushing 30 (Paperback)

I decided to buy this book when I read the first chapter in the bookstore. It got me from the beginning. Ellie is a "good" girl who always washes off her makeup, writes thank you notes, and sends Christmas cards. Being this kind of girl, it is extremely hard to break up with a man. In this first chapter, this is what she is struggling with. Breaking up with (another) boyfriend who just doesn't seem right for her.

Sooner than later, she runs into a new man. 20 something years her senior, his dog nuzzles up to her dog, and she's in love. She goes on a first date with him, and still has a thing for him, even after he guesses that she is 10 years older than she really is. Unfortunately, it doesn't go so well when he finds out what her age really is.

Fortunately for Ellie, his attraction to her doesn't cease, and he comes back for more, even though his morals keep trying to keep him away. He thinks that dating younger women is wrong, and as a newscaster, he wants to keep a professional reputation. There is also the matter of the ex wife, who doesn't like to see any woman take her place.

Quick, fun, and laugh out loud funny at times, this is a good summer book and only took me a couple of days to finish!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and well written!, January 10, 2004

By 

Christine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pushing 30 (Paperback)

I felt that this book found me, rather than the other way around, as I came across it browsing through a book store while having my own first real "age crisis". What I like the most about this book is how easy it is to relate to the main character, Ellie Winters. Even though I actually like my job (and have a very normal family), I could relate to her on so many levels. The rest of the characters also seem very realistic, even though they, as all characters in a comedy, are a little exaggerated. The one character who seems the most "out of focus" is Ellie's love interest. He doesn't seem as alive as the rest of the cast of characters, but it doesn't really detract from the story. The story itself holds quite a few surprises even though the ending is predictable, in a good way. It's a good read!