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: #16

Sweet Sixteen!  I hope Gianna gives me a car and brings me cake.

Gianna:

The Devil All the Time
Donald Ray Pollock
Doubleday

Of course The Devil all the Time made my list! From the author of the crazy good and critically acclaimed Knockemstiff, Donald Ray Pollock’s new novel is jaw dropping; it's dark, bizarre, disturbing, and incredibly good.

 

Set in Knockemstiff, Ohio (where Pollock grew up) the novel follows several characters from the 1940’s (just as WWII is ending) up until the 1960’s. The cast of characters include (and this is just a few characters) a husband and wife serial killer team who drive the highways looking for male hitchhikers, a preacher who is essentially a spider handler (and who knew that would be creepier than a snake handler, by the way), and then the centerpiece to the novel is a tortured World War II vet Willard Russell who seems to be (according to his son), “fighting the devil all the time.”

Donald Ray Pollock

Comparisons to Flannery O’Connor can’t be denied; Pollock is that good (and you may know that I loves my Flannery). The Devil all the Time is as dark as it is beautiful. If you read just the prologue you will get the immediate sense of Pollock’s enormous talent and unique modern voice.  

Liz:

The Stranger's Child

Alan Hollinghurst

Knopf

Alan Hollinghurst won the Man Booker Prize for his last book, The Line of Beauty, so there was a lot of anticipation for his next work.  Luckily The Stranger's Child lived up to the anticipation.  Also, I love the cover.  Covers matter to me. 

Alan Hollinghurst

The Stranger's Child reminded me of books like Brideshead Revisited (a favorite), The English Patient another favorite), Atonement (love it!), and The Children's Book (God I love that book).  Right before World War I, George Sawle brings his college friend Cecil Valance home for a vacation at the Sawle family manor house.  George likes Cecil...and George's younger sister Daphne likes Cecil.  Cecil writes a poem in Daphne's autograph book before the guys return to school.  When the war breaks out, Cecil the poet is killed and he becomes the legendary dead poet; what he wrote in Daphne's book becomes the poem school children memorize for generations to come.  Mystery surrounds the poem, Cecil, and the Sawle family, though.

Here is a story about literary legacy, love, and remembrance.  Hollinghurst is at the top of his game and solidifying his own literary reputation alongside writers like Ian McEwan and Peter Carey.

30 More Days Book Challenge: Day 27

Time to go to the movies.  After all, it's Labor Day.

Day 27: Favorite Book-to-Movie Adaptations

Gianna:

I hate to start this blog off with a devastating story, but it's topical.  Colleen Devine Ellis is a main character in this story and as you may know, those are always worth telling.  About six or so years ago, my house was burgled. Those sons a bitches took all of my DVDs, half of my CD collection (I will never alphabetize again, they took A-M), speakers, cameras--you know, the works. They also got into Colleen’s room and took some CDs and movies, even sort of ransacked her room.  [The way I heard the story, Colleen's room may actually have been straightened a bit by the thieves.] That wasn’t really the hard part for Colleen. What was really hard to process for poor old Devine was the fact that those bastards had the nerve to leave behind the BBC mini series of Pride and Prejudice. Her comment was (oh and I remember it clearly), “ Why would they leave this? Do you know how much I paid for this? This is the one with Colin Firth!” She was really pissed off. She printed out the cover of the DVD set and put it on our front door with a sign that said “Dear robbers, This is all we have left.”

We haven’t been burgled since.

 I pretty much have The Color Purple memorized…i'ts not annoying to watch that movie with me, not at all. Now having said that, I wouldn’t put this movie on my top 20 (or more) at all. It's not as bad as, say (oh, I hope I don’t open a can of worms here…), Girl Interrupted. Loved the book – truly hated the movie.

Pretty much any movie made from a E M Forster book has been good--magic touch, I guess.  Stephen King novels have been turned into some excellent films (some of which are also quote worthy… “You're just another lying ol' dirty birdy”), as were Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks. Love those two. My mother accidentally took me to see Barry Lyndon when I was … well, too young; I think we left early (like just four hours in…).

Anyway, I think I will list my top five book-to-movie faves. Note – I did not put any film on the list in which I have not read the book. For example, The Wizard of Oz, Princess Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( the original, Willy Wonka) , Drugstore Cowboy, In the Name of the Father, Year of Living Dangerously and  Full Metal Jacket – I love all these films but never did read the books.

Also did not list anything that had a book post film… in other words, my beloved Harold and Maude is not on this list.

I also did not include short stories that were made into films. For example, three of may favorite films are Brokeback Mountain (really excellent Annie Proulx story), In the Bedroom by Andre Dubus (great story and great film), and of course the beautiful story The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro, which was made into a gorgeous film by Sarah Polley called Away from Her. [I love all of these stories and movies.]

And still, getting all that our of the way…the list was difficult to make:

Terms of Endearment

Larry McMurtry – Novel

James L Brooks – Screenplay and Director

I actually love this film more than the book…by a long shot.  This is one of those movies that I will always top on if its on television. I just can’t pass it up. [I agree; the movie is significantly different, and significantly better.  Can't beat Shirley MacLaine in the role of Aurora.]

“It's past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don't understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and it’s past ten! My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! Give my daughter the shot!”

 Silence of the Lambs

Thomas Harris – Novel

Ted Tally - Screenplay

Jonathan Demme – Director

 I read three Harris novels after seeing this film; Red Dragon (my favorite of his), Silence,and Hannibal.  The films sequels got bad quickly, didn’t they?

“You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desperately to shed: pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you... all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars... while you could only dream of getting out... getting anywhere... getting all the way to the FBI.”

No Country for Old Men

Cormac McCarthy – Novel

Joel and Ethan Coen –  Screenplay and Directors

 I was pretty shocked when I read this book – and I am pretty sure I sat stunned watching this really excellent film as well.  This is one of those films you just can’t shake. It's also one of those films where you really don’t want to walk to your car alone in the theatre parking lot… yeah, I made the mistake of seeing this alone.

“Whatcha got ain't nothin new. This country's hard on people, you can't stop what's coming, it ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity.”

Sense & Sensibility

Jane Austen – Novel

Emma Thompson – Screenplay

Ang Lee – Director

 

First of all…I love Jane Austen.  [That makes one of us.  I do like this version of the novel as a film, though.] I think Emma Thompson’s adaptation is phenomenal – it  really has everything.  And yes, Colleen, I would put it up against your precious Pride and Prejudice. While it doesn’t have Colin Firth, it does have Alan Rickman.  And, you know, nothing wrong with Emma and Kate either. Emma Thompson kept a journal during the making of the film; I HIGHLY recommend it.  Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries.

The Godfather

Mario Puzo – Novel

Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola – Screenplay

Francis Ford Coppola - Director

This is it for me. You can have your Goodfellas…I will always choose The Godfather (I and II I pretend III never happened).  One Saturday morning a few weeks ago I turned on the television to watch the news … I left the sofa about five hours later after watching both Godfather I and II, which some fantastic network was showing back to back the way God intended.  I read the book after seeing the movie by the way. Movie is much better.

Okay here it is…..

“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”

Liz:

I feel some pressure in compiling my list.  I think Gianna's is superb and I easily could have chosen any one of those books-to-films for my own list.  I have Terms of Endearment memorized; I've seen it so many times that I could tell you the name of the classical music piece playing on John Lithgow's radio when he runs into Emma (Debra Winger) in the parking lot.  I'm going to attempt to come up with five picks of my own, though.  There are lots to choose from, after all.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson--Novel

Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg--Screenplay

Niels Arden Oplev--Director

I know that the American version of this book-to-movie adaptation will be the blockbuster movie of the fall, but I don't know how director David Fincher could possibly improve on the excellent Swedish version.  Neither book nor movie are for the faint of heart, but this movie is one of the most faithful adaptations I've ever seen and Noomi Rapace, the actor who played Lisbeth Salander, SHOULD have one an Oscar for her portrayal.  She's simply brilliant--both fragile and tougher than any other character in the movie, and so terribly, understandably damaged.  I love this character, and I love the screen version of this character.

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson--Novel

Jessica Sharzer--Screenplay, Director

I don't even know if this movie was ever in the theater.  I stumbled across it one weekend afternoon when I was flipping channels and it looked like the better alternative to reruns of Fear Factor.  I think maybe it was on Showtime or something?  Anyway, I was surprised by how much I liked this movie.  Kristen Stewart, who decided to ruin her career with a few Twilight movies, is subtle and moving in the role of Melinda, a girl struggling through her first year of high school after being raped at a party at the beginning of the year.  (For the record, this movie is based on a young adult book, which I have actually read.  I am a snob most of the time about adults reading adult books, but I made an exception for this one after seeing the movie.)

"My English teacher has no face.  I call her Hairwoman."

The Hours

Michael Cunningham--Novel

David Hare--Screenplay

Stephen Daldry--Director

Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel should have been one of those books that it's impossible to adapt, but the film version proved outstanding.  Nicole Kidman is great at Virginia Woolf, and Julianne Moore is even better as a depressed, 1950's housewife.  There is one scene in the movie that differs wildly from the book, but otherwise it's a strong adaptation that should have won the Best Picture Oscar.  Oh, and it has a Phillip Glass soundtrack.  I love Glass.

"Dear Leonard. To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away. Leonard, always the years between us, always the years. Always the love. Always the hours."

Atonement

Ian McEwan--Novel

Christopher Hampton--Screenplay

Joe Wright--Director

This story of innocence lost and the misinterpretation of childrens' eyes weaves together a tense night at an English manor with the horror of the war.  Briony is a 13 year-old girl who wants to be a writer, and one day  she observes an incident between her older sister and the son of a servant.  That night, when another girl is attacked at a party, Robbie, the servant's son, is accused of rape based on Briony's testimony.  Robbie and Cecilia's relationship then becomes the focus as Robbie is sent to war.

"Yes. I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes."

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee--Novel

Horton Foote--Screenplay

Robert Mulligan--Director

Does this pick need explanation?  One of the best books ever, and one of the best movies.  The screenplay is by Horton Foote, for cryin' out loud.  Horton Foote, who wrote A Trip to Bountiful and Tender Mercies.  There's a reason that schools watch the movie along with reading the book, and I don't think it's entirely because the teachers are lazy.  Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch--who didn't want him as your father?

"Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives."