Beth Raymer, Author Receded an Inch, Maybe Two
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GUIDElines Entertainment GOBS OF MONEY & HARMLESS MANIACS By Dorri Olds When she was 24, Beth Raymer, author receded an inch, maybe two. The facelift had of the gambling memoir, Lay the Favorite, been a success.” followed a guy to Las Vegas. When the With her quirky voice and wild, wacky tale, relationship went bust, Raymer drifted from Raymer’s book is now in post-production waitressing at his parent’s Thai restaurant to as a movie starring Bruce Willis as Dink, an in-homes stripper gig. When she found Catherine Zeta-Jones as his allergic-to-work herself in a client’s house with a gun pointed wife, Tulip Heimowitz, and Rebecca Hall of at her head, she ran, locked herself in his The Town as Raymer. Vince Vaughn plays bathroom, and questioned her career choices. Rosie, a tricky, slippery Long Island bookie. Through a passing acquaintance Raymer The fi lm’s director, Stephen Frears (The landed an interview with a professional Queen, Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, High sports gambler named Dink Heimowitz, of Fidelity) described the book as, “Strange as Dink Inc. He was “a guy about six-foot-four, hell, wildly affectionate and very, very funny. two hundred eighty pounds” whose hair was It is a world fi lled with scoundrels, thieves, “a heap of shiny, springy brown curls, the and gamblers.” kind you see in ads for home perms.” The Los Angeles Times said, “Seduced by The job description was unclear but her stories, we long for this strange, sleazy seemed somewhere along the lines of a Girl and alluring landscape, even as the stakes get Friday. higher and Raymer’s search for ‘the best of “He dressed like the mentally retarded it’ turns into a worst-case scenario.” adults I met while volunteering at a group Publishers Weekly called Raymer’s home. His Chicago Cubs T-shirt was two voice breezy, ingenuous and plucky. sizes too small. Royal blue elasticized shorts “Raymer cherished working among the were pulled high above his belly button. assortment of gambling types, low-end White tube socks were stretched to the hustlers and misfi ts she chronicles with middle of his pale, hairless shins.” evident tenderness.” At that fi rst meeting, “tucked into his The title of the book comes from Dink’s armpit was a Daily Racing Form, and in lingo lesson, “You don’t take the favorite. his hand was a puffy white bagel overstuffed You lay the favorite. You take the dog.” with lox.” With a mouthful of sandwich, Live vicariously through Raymer’s jaunts he asked Raymer if her dog Otis had an as she literally takes the dog—her dog, opinion on the Yankees game. Otis—from Vegas to Curaçao and Costa Now, prepare to meet Dink’s wife. “Tulip’s Rica to New York where, feverishly, the risks cheeks had swelled up and over her eyes. Her rise. bloated neck was propped against a white The movie’s release date is set for early silk pillow. Pink, purple, and blue bruises 2012, so run, don’t walk, to place your bets camoufl aged her face. Grease oozed from on this winner of a book. her pores. Long staples protruded from in Dorri Olds (DorriOlds.com) is a freelance writer Photo by Adam front of her bandaged ears. Her hairline had and web designer. Kleifi eld Resident September 2011 • 157.