Beth Anne Raymer (born in 1976, in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a 1 ...

) 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 from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. As a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

fellow, she studied offshore gambling operations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. Raymer is the author of a number of books including ''

Lay the Favorite ''Lay the Favorite'' is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by D.V. DeVincentis, and stars Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joshua Jackson. Based on Beth Raymer's 2010 memoir of the same na ...

'', a memoir of her experience in the sports-betting industry. The memoir was adapted into a film in 2012. Her journalism has been published in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Lapham’s Quarterly,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

, and ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

''.

Books and screenplays

Lay the Favorite

Raymer's book, ''

'', was published in 2010. It follows Raymer as she navigates the legal and illegal world of sports gambling. It has been described as a "

tragicomic Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious ...

biography" and a "Dickensian picaresque that paints an entertaining view of sports gambling and her own unconventional character." In 2007,

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

and

Random House Films Random House Studio is a production company responsible for adapting books published by Penguin Random House to film and TV. The company, originally owned by Penguin Random House, was transferred to Bertelsmann sister company Fremantle North Am ...

acquired the rights to produce a movie adaptation of the book.

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

directed the movie, also called ''

'', which premiered at the 2012

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and filmmaker. She made her first onscreen appearance at age 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of ''The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, Sir Peter Hall. Her professional s ...

plays Raymer, starring alongside

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...

and

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film '' Swingers''. He has appeared in ...

Fireworks Every Night

Raymer's debut novel ''Fireworks Every Night'',

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(summer, 2023), explores class differences, the lasting effects of childhood dysfunction, and complex family bonds.

The Lingerie Show

Raymer is the writer and narrator of the short film ''The Lingerie Show'', 2015. This film about addiction, loss, and a new start, debuted at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

and was an official selection of the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

Melbourne International Animation Festival The Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) is an annual animation festival held in Melbourne since 2001. Supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Commission and the Melbourne City Council, it is Aust ...

, Madrid International Film Festival, the

Chicago Underground Film Festival Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF), founded in 1993, is the longest running underground film festival in the world. It's an internationally recognized program providing a venue for documentary, experimental and avant-garde narrative film and ...

, 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 Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...

, May, 2023

Nuclear: Family and its Aftermath

''Nuclear: Family and its Aftermath'',

, Spring, 2025. This book explores the diverging destinies of two sisters growing up in poverty in 1980s Florida.

Education and early life

Education

Palm Beach Community College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 27,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associa ...

Associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

Florida State University,

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in Nonfiction Writing

Early life

Raymer grew up in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, where she attended community college. Her work often draws on her challenging childhood and the struggle of maintaining a relationship with her homeless father. Raymer worked her way through Florida State University as an "in home stripper" and later managed, and modeled for, adult websites. After being fired from a social work job Raymer moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

at the age of 24 and found work in the world of high-stakes gambling and

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

Awards

* Yaddo Fellow, 2016, 2019 * MacDowell Fellow, 2010, 2013 * Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence, 2011 * Florida Arts Council Grant Recipient, 2009 *

Fellow, 2009 * Hertog Fellow at Columbia University, 2007 - 2008

References

External links

Book review

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Books, June 21, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raymer, Beth American memoirists Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Living people Writers from Ohio 1976 births American women memoirists People from Steubenville, Ohio People from West Palm Beach, Florida 21st-century American women