Generally Horrible Questions: Beth Meister

Beth Meister

Since all of our bookseller pals are busy making Christmas wishes come true by selling as many books as possible, we decided to feature one of the peeps on the other end of the book supply chain this week.  Beth Meister works for Random House (with Liz, and we're sure that this fact is taken into account when she has her performance evaluations) and is generally a bad ass.  After all, what was she doing on a Saturday night in December?  She was reading this half-assed blog.  That's dedication.  Other things to know: Liz thinks "Beth" is a lovely name, Beth's obviously brilliant since she loves baseball, and she's generally a kind, funny, good natured person...and into self-punishment as exhibited by her willingness to fill out our little questionnaire.

Welcome to Book Land, Beth Meister!

1.     What is your position at Random House?
My title is Director, Sales Management & Planning for Doubleday, Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken


2.  What exactly does that mean you do?

The best way to describe my job is to say that I am the liaison between the sales department and the publisher’s office.  I work with the publishing group to make sure our sales reps have all of the information they need when they sell-in our titles and I communicate all information from the sales department back to the publishing group. [So you're Red from The Shawshank Redemption, the guy who can get things....or maybe The Wolf from Pulp Fiction, and Gianna is Jimmy, and Liz is obviously Julius.....]

3.  How’d you get that job?

While in college I went to a job fair in Manhattan over the holiday break. There were two non-banking jobs and I interviewed for both of them.  Random House was interviewing for their Associates Program.  This program was for up to a year and would rotate to different departments within a publishing group.  I was then hired for the Associates Program within the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group and I started the summer after I graduated from college.  I stayed in that program for about 10 months and worked in the editorial and publicity departments.  From there, I was hired as an assistant in the department I work in now.  I eventually became the Associate Director, Sales Management & Planning at Doubleday Broadway and then stayed with Doubleday when we became part of Knopf.  And now I’m Director, Sales Management & Planning for Doubleday, Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken. [Sheesh...so the exact opposite of sleeping with someone?]


4.   What’s the most menial job you’ve had?

I started at Random House right out of college so I guess babysitting?  I also worked as a waitress at my summer camp but that was a lot of fun.  [See what we mean about Beth?  She describes waitressing for children as "fun."]

5.   What did you want to be as a kid?

When I was really little I wanted to work as a checkout person at the grocery store.  I thought punching the keys seemed fun.  Then in elementary school I wanted to be a teacher and a writer. [Here in Book Land we're about making dreams come true.  Here's a link to Trader Joe's job application.  Let us know if you need a reference!]

6.   What’s your most jaw-dropping, jealousy inducing, incredible experience working at RH? (Feel free to say “Meeting Liz.”)

Meeting Liz is the obvious answer here.  But what I think is the most jealousy-inducing is that I truly love my job.

7.  What book do you love people probably don’t know about?

I love Jonathan Tropper.  The first book of his I read was The Book of Joe.  It had been selected for a book club I was in and neither the flap copy nor the cover interested me at all. Then I started reading and I fell in love.  

8.  As a lifelong Mets fan, how can you stand being surrounded by so many Yankees fans in the office?  I mean, I guess since it’s New York City you can’t easily slash their tires in the parking lot….

It can be difficult at times but it helps when the Yankees lose in the first round of the playoffs.  I also enjoy it when the Phillies lose in the first round of the playoffs.

9.  Gianna or Liz?

I have learned that the correct answer is always Liz. [Damn straight.]

10. What book(s) changed your life?

I took a class in college called Girls Books.  It was the first English class I had ever taken that I actually enjoyed.  We read Ballet Shoes and I absolutely loved it.  Reading hadn’t been a huge part of my adult life at that point but that book got me back into reading. 

11. I've never read _____________ and I'm so ashamed.

Atonement by Ian McEwan.  I made a friend of mine tell me the ending because I had heard it had a shocking twist. [Fear not!  Liz and Gianna will act out the movie for you.]

12. I've read ______________ and I'm so ashamed.

I know that the correct answer here is Twilight.  However, I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve ever read.  I believe that it doesn’t matter what you read as long as you are reading. [We believe the same...unless it's Twilight. It's terribly shameful.]

13. What book(s) are you most excited about that haven’t yet been published?

Two books not yet on-sale that I just couldn’t put down are Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead and Top of the Rock by Warren Littlefield.  The characters in Seating Arrangements are so flawed that they broke my heart.  Top of the Rock is pure fun – it is a behind the scenes look at NBC in the 80s and 90s when shows like Cheers, Friends, and ER (with my all-time favorite, George Clooney) were on the air.  [Liz: I really love both of these books.  Great choices to jot down now so you don't forget.]

14. Who would play you in the made-for-TV movie of your life?

Sandra Bullock.  Mostly just because I think she’s great.

15.  What’s your all-time favorite book?

This is such a tough question!  I’m going to go with my two most recent favorites which are The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Destiny of the Republicby Candice Millard.  The Night Circus is such a magical story.  I never have time to re-read books but I read this one twice and I loved it even more the second time.  Destiny of the Republic is the fascinating story of President Garfield and his assassination.  Candice Millard is an amazing author.

Beth and the team in NYC at the launch of The Night Circus

               

Best of 2011 Countdown: #21

We're going non-fiction today.  Whip out those holiday gift idea lists--these two are perfect for Uncle Bob and Cousin John...and Aunt Suzie for that matter.

Gianna:

In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson
Crown

Larson’s fascinating book is set in 1933, just as Hitler begins his reign of power. America’s first ambassador to Germany has relocated to Berlin with his wife, son and uh, how to say it nicely…rather outgoing daughter Martha. Martha is like a Kardashian; she enjoys the limelight, the nightlife and the men of Germany. Of course, instead of professional athletes she favors the men of the Third Reich, including the head of the Gestapo.

The Dodd family

The Dodds are initially content in Germany, but they quickly become disillusioned. In hindsight, they were slow to understand what is about to unfold, yet when William Dodd does begin to alert the United States of Hitler’s actual motives, he is largely ignored. As William learns more about Hitler’s plans and Martha moves her way up the Third Reich food chain, they both become major players in Hitler’s Germany.

This is a terrific piece of history written only the way Larson can. There are many Larson wannabes, but in the end he is the master. Isaac’s Storm, Thunderstruck, and The Devil in the White City are all amazing, yet this is his best book to date. 

Liz:

The Destiny of the Republic

Candice Millard

Doubleday

Readers might remember Millard from her previous book, The River of Doubt, the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's failed expedition to navigate a previously uncharted river in the Amazon Basin.  (It's a must-read.)  Now Candice Millard is turning her historical eye to another President, James A. Garfield.  

If you were paying attention in the fifth grade, you might remember that Garfield was one of four Presidents assassinated, and if you saw the Stephen Sondheim musical, you might even know that Charles Guiteau was the guy who shot him.  Chances are, though, that you don't know that Garfield was one of the greatest statesmen this country has ever known.  He was dedicated to ending the Gilded Age corruption in Washington.  And that he didn't die from Guiteau's bullet.

James Garfield was a legislator, but he never sought the Presidency.  During the Republican convention, Garfield was giving a speech to nominate a colleague and his oration was so powerful that when he rhetorically asked at the end of his speech, "Who do we want?," somebody yelled back "We want GARFIELD!"  Days later he was the Republican nominee.

Garfield

Millard also gives the engrossing back story of Charles Guiteau (and you know I love any story that involves weird, cultish commune living), and the details of the assassination.  As I stated earlier, the bullet didn't instantly kill Garfield, and The Destiny of the Republic is as much a history of 19th Century medicine as it is a Presidential biography.  In fact, Alexander Graham Bell, telephone inventor, raced time and disease to find a method to save the President.

The Destiny of the Republic is a compelling read about a mostly forgotten President, and Candice Millard is the perfect writer to tell the story.