Random House Films, in tandem with Focus Features, options Beth Raymer’s “Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog,” an unpublished memoir about her odyssey through the world of sports betting. In gambling, as ...

It’s hard not to like the breezy, ingenuous voice of this plucky protagonist who proves she’s game for any kind of new experience. Hailing from Ohio, Raymer eventually made her way to Las Vegas when ...

C.C.’s isn’t your typical rags-to-riches story. She remembers growing up in a single-wide with her older sister, stay-at-home mom and car-salesman dad. But she also remembers when they moved to ...

You value independent local news, so become a sustainer today to power our newsroom. Listen 8:20 Beth Raymer's new memoir, Lay the Favorite, is about guys sitting in front of computer screens, placing ...

Beth Raymer, current Kerouac Project writer in residence, shares a disregard for boundaries with the house’s most famous ex-resident. Like the Beat-era bard, Raymer has both affection and affinity for ...

In Florida, you’re more likely to die by the electric chair than by a gator attack. So warns a middle school teacher in Fireworks Every Night, the debut novel by Beth Raymer. It follows the troubled ...

One thing I’ve learned from working at an Indian casino is that appearances can be deceiving. If the stereotype is that gamblers are overweight, stogie-chewing men in sharkskin suits or young men in ...

FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT. By Beth Raymer. Random House. 240 pages. $27. C.C.’s isn’t your typical rags-to-riches story. She remembers growing up in a single-wide with her older sister, stay-at-home mom ...