Skip to Main Content

Early Thirties

A Novel

About The Book

A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about two thirtysomething best friends’ messy search for connection and love in New York, perfect for fans of Rebecca Serle, Gabrielle Zevin, and Dolly Alderton.

Sometimes friendship can be its own love story.

Victor and Zoey are getting old, well old-er, and it’s beginning to be a real problem.

Best friends for a decade, they have seen each other through bad dates and office drama, late nights and hungover brunches, during their years together in New York City.

As their wild twenties come to a close, though, the dynamic between the two is shifting. Coming off a tough breakup, Victor dedicates his energies toward building a career writing celebrity profiles for one of the last glossy magazines left, while Zoey navigates the terrain at her nascent fashion startup, questioning her future with her fiancé. The friends and acquaintances in their orbit—authors, influencers, “It girls”—are also searching for a sense of belonging, amidst anxieties and self-doubt.

But when tragedy befalls Victor, his once unbreakable bond with Zoey really starts to crack. They find themselves ignoring their ongoing text thread and pushing away what might be the most meaningful relationship of their lives. An immersive, hilarious, and heartbreaking story, this is a debut novel about best friendship, finding yourself, and realizing growing up has as much to do with the person you were as it does with the person you are desperately trying to become.

About The Author

Photograph by Justin Bishop

Josh Duboff is a novelist, journalist, and playwright. A former senior writer for Vanity Fair, Josh has written cover stories on Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gigi Hadid, among others, and contributed to The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, W Magazine, Town & Country, Bon Appétit, Air Mail, and more. A graduate of Yale University, he lives in New York City.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press (March 18, 2025)
  • Length: 336 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668059951

Raves and Reviews

“In Early Thirties, Josh Duboff skillfully paints a vivid picture of what it's like to be on the old side of being young while navigating an existence spent more URL than IRL. Modern life has never looked so frustrating or funny in Duboff's hands. I'm obsessed. Seriously."

Ryan O’Connell, nationally bestselling author of Just By Looking At Him and creator of hit Netflix series Special

"Josh Duboff’s Early Thirties is a perfect depiction of growing up when you’re a grown up. I loved it.”

Jeffery Self, author of Self-Sabotage

“A brutally honest and spit-take funny novel, Early Thirties perfectly portrays the pain and power of the journey towards a true self and away from others who for so long defined you. I was at once comforted and challenged by Duboff's illumination of the shared loneliness of the stars, the masses, and the people who bring them together.”

Lola Kirke, author of Wild West Village

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images