Thirty

The Jill Emerson novels #4

by Jill Emerson, Lawrence Block

The titillating diary of a housewife gone wild
 
 
Turning twenty-nine years old, Janet Giddings Kurland starts a journal and records her comfortable, if boring, suburban lifestyle. But when this square sneaks a screw with her friend’s husband, she starts down a path that will lead her to the hip streets of Greenwich Village. Amidst the sexually free, Janet blossoms and her housewife’s journal turns into a sex diary filled with raunchy encounters, dangerous lotharios, orgies, and drugs. The more depraved her actions, the more she craves new experiences. Will this intoxicating drug called sex take her over the edge—or to new heights?
 
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lawrence Block, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from his personal collection, and a new afterword written by the author.

Genres: Erotica, Fiction

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

A pseudonym used by Lawrence Block.

Block writes: "Jill Emerson’s seven-book body of work ranges from sensitive lesbian fiction (Enough of Sorrow) and candid erotica (Threesome) to mainstream contemporary fiction (A Week as Andrea Benstock). Both [Jill and Lawrence Block] are deeply grateful to the heroine of Getting Off for providing them with the opportunity to work together one more time.

Reviews

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of LB and have read a large number of his books - well, there's a lot to read and I'm still only about half way through his total output. He's best known for his New York based crime fiction, with his Matt Scudder series being widely regarded as one of the best out there. But he's a gifted writer and he's produced work outside of this genre too, in the course of a long career.

Recently, some of his very early pieces have been made available, after having been long out of print, and although most are not of the quality of his most recent novels they are in themselves interesting and entertaining. It's possible to glimpse the promise of what's to come and to admire, even in these stories, his ability to put words together in a style that few can match.

So when offered the chance to listen to this ambiguously titled story on audiobook (I'm a huge advocate of listening to others do the reading work for me) I didn't hesitate. In the guise of one of his pseudonyms, this erotic romp is about as far from Scudder as you can get! It tracks the adventures of a 29 year old woman who liberates herself from an unsuccessful marriage to enjoy the full mix of pleasures available in latter day NYC. This turns out to be a downward spiral but there's no doubting the fun she has along the way.

It's a short but engaging tale and I feel all the better for spending a few hours in its company.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Lawrence Block writing as Jill Emerson, though this one came out in 1970, and thus is significantly different from the late 1950s/early 1960s pseudonymous books he wrote. His writing chops are better. And this is post-censorship, so the sex scenes cease to be euphemistic, which was the point of this book. But what is remarkable is that Block went all in with the voice of the narrator and delivered a nuanced and conflicted first-person narrative.

Block's original title was Thirty and it is reclaimed with the re-print and ebook versions. The publisher of the 1970 edition changed it to I am Curious (Thirty) to capitalize on a popular erotic movie of the time I am Curious - Yellow.

The structure is a diary. One year in the life of Jan Kurland. Jan is a bored, childless, housewife living in suburban New York. She's just turned twenty-nine and is fearing the big three oh. Her diary starts in despair, cataloging where she's at and setting the stage for the unfolding events, which are: she seduces a high-school boy who comes to shovel snow from the driveway; packs up and leaves her husband; moves to Greenwich Village; runs the gauntlet of sexual experiences; becomes a prostitute; has an abortion; attempts suicide; rebounds; turns thirty; thinks, what could possibly be next? the end.

Could have been horrible, but Block's commitment to the narrative voice and the characterization really elevated this one.

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

In reading Lawrence Block's crime fiction, I have to come to expect his proficiency in highlighting a character's desperation, his/her frailty. Turns out he's been doing that under pen names as well, as evidenced by this erotic novel originally published under the name Jill Emerson.

With Janet, a twenty-nine year old wife, Block shows a desperation of a life not yet lived. Oh, she has the loving husband and the house and the comfortable life, but it absent of passion. And as she nears her thirtieth birthday, desperation sets it. This can't be all there is. Oh no, it is not.

It begins with a brief, almost spontaneous encounter with a young man that she invited into her bed, and after that Janet's life is irrevocably altered. She sees a way out of her dull existence, leaves her husband, drains their savings, and moves to New York. From there, her experiences become more fiery, and skirt towards even manic.

Emily Beresford offers a pitch-perfect narration through the book, as Block has it written as a series of diary entires. Emily quite capably captures the prim and proper bourgeoisie, continually tempered by her obsessions, self-doubt, and fear with each subsequent diary entry.

Erotic at its core, it also offers a fair share of suspense when Janet becomes a bit overwhelmed with at least one of her encounters. It might feel a bit dated, but heck, so did 'Mad Men' on AMC and that was well-received.

[Meg]

Very depressing

[Craig Childs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rare occurrence, a Lawrence Block novel that I did not much enjoy. Most of them—even the rough early pseudonymous ones—usually have something that makes them unique or memorable. This was a bit of a misfire. However, it is also easy to see how this was a stepping stone that led to some of his best novels in the 1970’s.

The book is written in the form of a diary. Jan is a housewife facing a sort of midlife crisis as she approaches 30. She leaves her husband and embarks on a series of increasingly bizarre, graphic, and unrealistic sexual experiences. A lot of Block’s books contain adult content, but this one is basically pornography. It lacks Block’s usual subtlety of characterization and his trademark comic wit.

Characters had a tendency to enter and pass through Jan’s life almost at random, just like real life. Some characters were hinted or foreshadowed to have interesting arcs and mysterious backstories, but they never materialized. Or perhaps they did, but it must have happened after the seminal year was up and Jan had abandoned her diary.

Alongside Such Men Are Dangerous, this novel marks the beginning of an odd literary phase in Block’s career that lasted from 1969-1974. He was experimenting with novels that purported to be manuscripts or have some other tangible reason for their existence. The rest were better than this one. No Score purported to be an autobiography and was published with the protagonist’s name as author. Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man was a comedic epistolary novel. Threesome featured alternating chapters written by people in a troilistic marriage. Different Strokes consisted of a (fake) feature-length screenplay written by the author, as well as a (made up) production diary, and an interview with a (nonexistent) leading actress.

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming soon.

Merged review:

In reading Lawrence Block's crime fiction, I have to come to expect his proficiency in highlighting a character's desperation, his/her frailty. Turns out he's been doing that under pen names as well, as evidenced by this erotic novel originally published under the name Jill Emerson.

With Janet, a twenty-nine year old wife, Block shows a desperation of a life not yet lived. Oh, she has the loving husband and the house and the comfortable life, but it absent of passion. And as she nears her thirtieth birthday, desperation sets it. This can't be all there is. Oh no, it is not.

It begins with a brief, almost spontaneous encounter with a young man that she invited into her bed, and after that Janet's life is irrevocably altered. She sees a way out of her dull existence, leaves her husband, drains their savings, and moves to New York. From there, her experiences become more fiery, and skirt towards even manic.

Emily Beresford offers a pitch-perfect narration through the book, as Block has it written as a series of diary entires. Emily quite capably captures the prim and proper bourgeoisie, continually tempered by her obsessions, self-doubt, and fear with each subsequent diary entry.

Erotic at its core, it also offers a fair share of suspense when Janet becomes a bit overwhelmed with at least one of her encounters. It might feel a bit dated, but heck, so did 'Mad Men' on AMC and that was well-received.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a pretty big Lawrence Block fan and although erotica is not usually what I read - I did jump at the chance to read this book. It was released in 1970 when Block was writing erotica as Jill Emerson.

We follow a year in the life of a woman who turns 29 and feels something missing in her life.

This is standard Block in that is oozes New York and the dark side of life. He has the talent to just transport you somewhere else and make you feel what his characters are feeling, it's an amazing talent and Block has plenty of it.

We follow our hero as she travels down life experiencing group sex, orgies, drugs, prostitution etc. etc. etc. Some of this is tame compared to life now but I'm sure was incredibly shocking in 1970 but the time difference doesn't really diminish the enjoyment of the book.

I didn't give it a perfect rating just based on my personal enjoyment - a little too dark for me and I'm not thrilled with the ending (don't worry, no spoilers) but I would recommend this book.

[Chris Birdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage Erotica! This is erotica as only Lawrence Block could pull it off. It's a coming of sexual age story wrapped up in erotica. Janet is a bored suburban housewife who sees 30 looming every time she looks in the mirror. When her last birthday before 30 comes around, she starts to take a harsh, realistic look at her life. She's a suburban housewife with no children and a station wagon. When she literally walks away from that life, she starts a life of sexual depravity that accelerate like a snowball rolling downhill. Lawrence Block tells this story with his usual wit and understatement. My only problem with the story, other than the overuse of the word c--t when vagina would have served just as well, was that it was dated. The sums of money that Janet has and spends on rent may have worked thirty-five years ago, but certainly not today. For that, Thirty went from five stars to four stars.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to make progress on these old Lawrence Block writing as...

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence Block writing as Jill Emerson.