Hole in My Life

Hole in My Life is an American autobiography of Jack Gantos and was published by Macmillan Publishers in 2002. In 2003 the book was honored with the Michael L. Printz Award[1] and the same year became a winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal.[2]

Hole in My Life
First edition
AuthorJack Gantos
GenreAutobiography
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan Publishers
Publication date
2002
Pages224
ISBN0312641575
OCLC60416727
LC Class2001040957

Plot

The book is set in 1971 and tells about author's life behind bars. Before he goes to jail he dreams of becoming a writer and becomes inspired by William S. Burroughs who according to his knowledge used to use drugs to go through his life as a writer. Because he dropped out of university in Saint Croix, he began using hashish and later joined the sail team.[3] There, his friends became Hamilton and Rik, the later of whom promised him $10,000 if he will sail with him to New York City from the Virgin Islands to sell hash to customers. As a result, upon arriving to New York and settling into a hotel, he and his friends were captured by the FBI and were sentenced from 5 to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking. Jack got 5, but because of his well behavior in prison he gets out in 15 months of his sentence.[4] While there he works as an X-ray technician and writes his thoughts in a journal on a copy of The Brothers Karamazov. He gets out of prison a bit earlier because he applies to a university for creative writing course and begins a new life by selling Christmas trees.

Reception

The book received positive reviews from Kirkus Reviews[5] and Publishers Weekly.[6]

gollark: > > but do not tell i told you
gollark: ++delete <@!358508089563021317> (picture of doxxing shown)
gollark: My locationIS ON EARTH
gollark: At least if someone wants to bomb me they will probably just have to nuke all of England, given the available information (as far as I know). Although if they have access to nukes they can probably locate me more precisely.
gollark: If you spread around your location and/or pipe-bomb them it is your fault.

References
  1. "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". Young Adult Library Services Association. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  2. "Robert F. Sibert Medal and Honor Books, 2001-present". Association for Library Service to Children. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  3. Gray, Keith (February 12, 2005). "Review: Hole in My Life". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  4. Bodett, Tom (May 19, 2002). "Children'S Books; Portrait of the Artist as a Young Convict". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  5. "Hole in My Life". Kirkus Reviews. May 20, 2010. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  6. "Hole in My Life". Publishers Weekly. February 25, 2002. Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.


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