Education

Raymer received an MFA from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. As a Fulbright fellow, she studied offshore gambling operations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Before landing the Fulbright fellowship Beth worked her way through Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

 as, in her words, an “in-home stripper”, appearing solo. She was also, at the time, running other girls' adult websites.

Life experiences

According to her memoir, Beth Raymer's many exploits include working at the Department of Children and Families

Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services is the name of a governmental agency in many states of the United States that responds to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as "Department of Children & Family Services"...

, an escort agency

Escort agency

Escort agencies are companies that provide escorts for the agency's clients. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room , or at the escort's residence . Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay...

, her own "girl-on-girl

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

" web site , and even professional boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. She eventually "stumbled into" the world of high-stakes gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 and bookmaking.

As related in one of the stories in her memoir, Raymer worked for a time at a residential home for troubled teenage girls, where she allowed teenage girls to escape from the facility.

The following quotes are from the memoir:

"I had no idea what the sex part of the job would entail, but the promise of 'real money' made my blood sing." ... " For $150 an hour, we arrived at a client’s home, office, or occasional parked car."

"What I loved was being in strangers' homes and listening to their secrets. There was no ordinary structure. Every encounter was unique. Life was in the here and now and I loved the feeling of being wildly alive to it all." ... "I discovered there is no bigger thrill than making money while you sleep."

Author

Raymer's Lay the Favorite

Lay the Favorite

Lay the Favorite is an upcoming crime-comedy film. Based on Beth Raymer's memoir of the same title, the film follows a young, free-spirited woman as she journeys through the legal and illegal world of sports gambling.-Cast:...

, published in 2010, was described by some critics as a "Dickensian picaresque that paints an entertaining view of sports gambling and her own unconventional character," while, by others, as simply "a tragicomic biography."

In 2007, Focus Features

Focus Features

Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....

 and Random House Films

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

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

Stephen Frears

Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...

 directed the movies, which is scheduled for a 2012 release. Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress.In 2003, Hall won the Ian Charleson Award for her debut stage performance in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession...

 plays Beth, starring alongside Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis

Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...

, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...

 and Vince Vaughn

Vince Vaughn

Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...

.

External links

• Interview, Pleasantville Community Television
  Pleasantville, New York
  Pleasantville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 7,019 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Mount Pleasant. Pleasantville is home to a campus of Pace University and to the Jacob Burns Film Center...
  
  , October 7, 2010
• Book review, NPR
  NPR
  NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
  
  Books, June 21, 2010