Author | Jack Gantos |
---|---|
Genre | Autobiography |
Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan Publishers |
Publication date
|
2002 |
Pages | 224 |
ISBN | |
OCLC | 60416727 |
LC Class | 2001040957 |
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 Michael L. Printz Award and the same year became a winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal.
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 St. Croix, he began using hashish and later joined the sail team. 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 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. 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.
The book was reviewed by Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly.