Beth Raymer

{{Infobox writer

| name = Beth Raymer

|image = Beth_Raymer.jpg

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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1976}}

| birth_place = Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.

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| occupation = {{hlist|Writer|journalist|screenwriter}}

| education =

| alma_mater = Florida State University
Columbia University

| period =

| genre = Memoir, fiction

| subject = Subcultures, class, family dynamics, gambling

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}}

Beth Anne Raymer{{cite web |title=Beth Anne Raymer - Artist |url=https://www.macdowell.org/artists/beth-anne-raymer |access-date=17 February 2022 |website=MacDowell Colony |language=en}} (born in 1976 in Steubenville, Ohio) is an American writer and journalist. Her work in both fiction and non-fiction explores subcultures and issues relevant to the lives of lower and middle-class families. Raymer received an MFA{{cite web |title=Interview: Beth Raymer, author of Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling |url=https://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2010/07/27/interview-beth-raymer-author-of-lay-the-favorite-a-memoir-of-gambling/ |website=SMITH Magazine |access-date=17 February 2022}} from Columbia University.{{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=84048 |title=Beth Raymer, author: spotlight |work=Random House |accessdate=December 11, 2010}} As a Fulbright fellow, she studied offshore gambling operations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. Raymer is the author of several books including Lay the Favorite, a memoir of her experience in the sports-betting industry. The memoir was adapted into a film in 2012.{{Citation |title=Lay the Favorite (2012) - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132449/ |access-date=2023-04-16 |language=en-US}} Her journalism has been published in The Atlantic,{{cite web |title=All Stories by Beth Raymer |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/author/beth-raymer/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=17 February 2022}} Lapham’s Quarterly,{{cite web |last1=Raymer |first1=Beth |title=The Best of It |url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/sports-games/best-it |website=Lapham’s Quarterly |access-date=17 February 2022 |language=en}} Sports Illustrated, and The New York Times Magazine.{{cite news |last1=Raymer |first1=Beth |title=The Upside of Foreclosure |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10YouAreHere-t.html |access-date=17 February 2022 |work=The New York Times Magazine |date=8 April 2011}}

Education and early life

Raymer was born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1976 and grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she attended Palm Beach Community College.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Her work often draws on her challenging childhood and the struggle of maintaining a relationship with her homeless father.{{cite news |date=20 June 2010 |title=Gal writes the book on bookies |work=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2010/06/20/gal-writes-the-book-on-bookies/ |access-date=17 February 2022}}

Raymer attended Florida State University, graduating with a B.A. in social work. As a student, she worked as an "in-home stripper" and later modeled for adult websites.{{Cite web |date=2010-07-01 |title=Author Beth Raymer recounts quirky adventures in sports betting world |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/author-beth-raymer-recounts-quirky-adventures-in-sports-betting-world/ |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US}} After being fired from a social work job{{cite news |last=Raymer |first=Beth |date=July 7, 2010 |title=Excerpt from Lay the Favorite by Beth Raymer |publisher=Random House |url=http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2010/07/27/excerpt-lay-the-favorite-by-beth-raymer/ |accessdate=November 20, 2011}} Raymer moved to Las Vegas at the age of 24 and found work in the world of high-stakes gambling and bookmaking.{{cite news |last=Raymer |first=Beth |date=March 1, 2010 |title=Google Books excerpt from Lay the Favorite |publisher=Random House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=emxuVtoVFQcC&q=beth+raymer+girl-on-girl&pg=PA61 |accessdate=November 20, 2011 |isbn=9780385526456}}{{Cite web |last=Chum |first=Vivian |date=July 27, 2010 |title=Interview: Beth Raymer, author of Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling |url=https://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2010/07/27/interview-beth-raymer-author-of-lay-the-favorite-a-memoir-of-gambling/ |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Smith Mag}} She received an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University in 2008.{{Cite web |last=Barragán |first=Carlos |date=June 2, 2023 |title=A Dazzling Explosion of Dark Humor and Raw Emotion in Debut Novel by Beth Raymer '08 |url=https://arts.columbia.edu/news/dazzling-explosion-dark-humor-and-raw-emotion-debut-novel-beth-raymer-08 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Columbia School of the Arts}}

Books and screenplays

= Lay the Favorite =

Raymer's book, Lay the Favorite, was published in 2010.{{cite book |last=Raymer |first=Beth |url=https://archive.org/details/layfavoritememo00raym |title=Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling |date=June 2010 |publisher=Spiegel & Grau |isbn=978-0-385-52645-6 |url-access=registration}} It follows Raymer as she navigates the legal and illegal world of sports gambling. It has been described as a "tragicomic biography" {{cite news |last=Harris |first=Lynn |date=July 9, 2010 |title=Taking a Gamble |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/books/review/Harris-t.html}} and a "Dickensian picaresque that paints an entertaining view of sports gambling and her own unconventional character."{{cite news |last=Burke |first=Jeffrey |date=June 28, 2010 |title=Ex-Stripper Crams Sports Betting, Golden Gloves Into Hot Memoir |publisher=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-28/ex-stripper-crams-sports-betting-golden-gloves-into-hot-memoir.html |accessdate=December 11, 2010}}

In 2007, Focus Features and Random House Films acquired the rights to produce a movie adaptation of the book.{{cite web |date=October 24, 2007 |title=Random House and Focus Features Are Going to Take the Dog |url=http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEidrmijKzWaln |accessdate=December 11, 2010 |work=MovieWeb}} Stephen Frears directed the movie, also called Lay the Favorite, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.{{cite news |last=Bornfeld |first=Steve |date=July 1, 2010 |title=Author Beth Raymer recounts quirky adventures in sports betting world |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |url=http://www.lvrj.com/neon/97567224.html?imw=Y |accessdate=December 11, 2010}} Rebecca Hall plays Raymer, starring alongside Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vince Vaughn.

= Fireworks Every Night =

Raymer's debut novel Fireworks Every Night, Random House (summer, 2023),{{Cite web |title=Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raymer: 9780812993165 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/217097/fireworks-every-night-by-beth-raymer/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}} explores class differences, the lasting effects of childhood dysfunction, and complex family bonds.{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/beth-raymer/fireworks-every-night/ |title=FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}

= The Lingerie Show =

Raymer is the writer and narrator of the short film The Lingerie Show, 2015.{{Citation |title=The Lingerie Show (Short 2015) - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4025976/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |language=en-US}} This film about addiction, loss, and a new start, debuted at the New York Film Festival and was an official selection of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Melbourne International Animation Festival, Madrid International Film Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Festival.

= Head of Household: A Journal for Single Moms =

Head of Household: A Journal for Single Moms, Princeton Architectural Press, May, 2023{{Cite web |title=Head of Household |url=https://papress.com/products/head-of-household |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=PA Press |language=en}}

= Nuclear: Family and its Aftermath =

Nuclear: Family and its Aftermath, Random House, Spring, 2025.{{Cite web |last=Deahl {{!}} |first=Rachel |title=Book Deals: Week of April 10, 2023 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/91943-book-deals-week-of-april-10-2023.html |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}} This book explores the diverging destinies of two sisters growing up in poverty in 1980s Florida.

Awards

Yaddo Fellow, 2016, 2019{{Cite web |title=Writer – Yaddo |url=https://yaddo.org/all-residents/writer/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |language=en-US}}
MacDowell Fellow, 2010, 2013{{Cite web |title=Search MacDowell Artists, Events, News, and more |url=https://www.macdowell.org/search/results?q=beth+raymer |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=MacDowell |language=en}}
Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence, 2011{{Cite web |title=2011-2012 Archives |url=https://www.kerouacproject.org/writer-category/2011-2012/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=The Kerouac Project |language=en-US}}
Florida Arts Council Grant Recipient, 2009
Fulbright Fellow, 2009{{Cite web |title=Beth Raymer {{!}} Penguin Random House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/84048/beth-raymer |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
Hertog Fellow at Columbia University, 2007 - 2008