30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 [Paperback]

Siobhan Adcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2003

Competence. Now in convenient book format

30 must-have life skills every capable adult should perfect before turning 30.

You’re old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills.
You’ll learn how to...
1. wrap a present
2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue
3. finish a piece of furniture
4. get a raise
5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed
6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements
7. dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot
8. use a full place setting properly, including chopsticks and Asian soup spoons
9. clean your place in under 45 minutes, when friends, relatives, or prospective lovers are coming by unexpectedly, and soon
10. hold your liquor
11. cure a hangover
12. do the Heimlich Maneuver
13. use a compass
14. change a flat
15. jump start a car
16. open a champagne bottle
17. send a drink to someone’s table
18. cook one “signature meal”
19. whistle with your fingers
20. take good pictures
21. fold a fitted sheet
22. remove common stains
23. sew a button
24. carve turkey, lasagna, and birthday cake
25. hold a baby
26. change a diaper
27. keep a plant alive for more than a year
28. make dogs and cats love you
29. help someone (an older or ill person, a woman you’re trying to impress, your mother) out of a car
30. write superior thank you notes

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adcock, a freelance writer and former editor at Anchor Books, offers her take on popular how-to-fix-anything guide books. In a generous tone that captures the mindset of her 20-something audience ("The secret to making friends and influencing people... is knowing how to do stuff"), she offers readers advice and hints on wrapping presents ("If you are going to put a bow or ribbon on, make sure it coordinates somehow with the paper"); ordering wine at a restaurant ("the least expensive wines are usually marked up the most"); and holding a baby ("chances are good that unless you have hooks for hands you will someday be asked to do it"). While the selections themselves do seem arbitrary (they are arranged in such categories as "Skills that Save Time or Money," and "Skills that Save Face"), there's no harm in mastering each one.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Competence. Now in convenient book format

30 must-have life skills every capable adult should perfect before turning 30.

You?re old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills.
You?ll learn how to...
1. wrap a present
2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue
3. finish a piece of furniture
4. get a raise
5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed
6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements
7. dance a ?slow dance? without looking like an idiot
8. use a full place setting properly, including chopsticks and Asian soup spoons
9. clean your place in under 45 minutes, when friends, relatives, or prospective lovers are coming by unexpectedly, and soon
10. hold your liquor
11. cure a hangover
12. do the Heimlich Maneuver
13. use a compass
14. change a flat
15. jump start a car
16. open a champagne bottle
17. send a drink to someone?s table
18. cook one ?signature meal?
19. whistle with your fingers
20. take good pictures
21. fold a fitted sheet
22. remove common stains
23. sew a button
24. carve turkey, lasagna, and birthday cake
25. hold a baby
26. change a diaper
27. keep a plant alive for more than a year
28. make dogs and cats love you
29. help someone (an older or ill person, a woman you?re trying to impress, your mother) out of a car
30. write superior thank you notes

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (June 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767913973
• ISBN-13: 978-0767913973
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting, January 3, 2006

By 

E. M. Bristol "bibliophile" (boston, mass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 (Paperback)

Offers tips on everything from parallel parking to preparing a quick hot meal. However, the author's know-it-all tone was a little grating. I also wanted to know WHY these techniques were preferable as opposed to others. Finally, I wished that the author had divulged the sources of her knowledge. That would have added to the book, I think, rather than subtracted. None of us are born knowing how to do everything.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brooklyn Reader, June 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 (Paperback)

Wow! I loved this book. Not only is it a great how-to book, full of all sorts of practical and easy to follow advice, it's also hilarious. Ms. Adcock has a unique voice and her how-to essays are not your typical, put slot A into slot B descriptions. They are smart and charming vignettes that sympathize with what it's like to be a modern -- and often frazzled -- not-yet-thirty-something. Ms. Adcock gives great advice on how to become a more competent, and hopefully cooler, adult. I recommend highly.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty AND Informative!, June 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 (Paperback)

I bought this book for a friend who just turned 30 but before I sent it on to her I had to take a peak inside--needless to say, I wound up keeping the book for myself! Siobhan Adcock is a wonderful writer with a charming and witty style. She kind of reminded me of a cross between David Sedaris and Emily Post! The book is both helpful and practical, with very easy to follow instructions, and devilishly entertaining. Buy it!