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Hole in My Life

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 2,625 ratings · 557 reviews

Becoming a writer the hard way

In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal

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Paperback, 200 pages

Published September 8th 2004 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (first published March 26th 2002)

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Apr 21, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You always hear tragic tales that involve drugs and you never think it could apply to you. Why would it? You're a decent person that knows right from wrong, it can't happen to you. When we are young, we all believe we are invincible, some of us still do.

Jack Gantos recounts his struggle starting as a young high school student aspiring to become a writer. He has plans for college so he can become a better writer but feels he has nothing to write about. Through his search for inspiration and lack...more

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Mar 28, 2009 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This young adult autobiography is a candid account of a young man whose aspirations to become a writer would not be fulfilled before he made some bad decisions and suffered the consequences.
While I think the book was well written and not an apology for his mistakes, I would not recommend hole in my life for the middle school students I teach. Gantos’ experiences with drugs, smuggling, and self-doubt are more appropriate for young adults. The quote from Oscar Wilde sums up why this IS a good bi...more This young adult autobiography is a candid account of a young man whose aspirations to become a writer would not be fulfilled before he made some bad decisions and suffered the consequences.
While I think the book was well written and not an apology for his mistakes, I would not recommend hole in my life for the middle school students I teach. Gantos’ experiences with drugs, smuggling, and self-doubt are more appropriate for young adults. The quote from Oscar Wilde sums up why this IS a good biography for young adults to read, but is not good for sixth graders. “I have learned this: it is not what one does that is wrong, but what one becomes as a consequence of it.”
With a subtle sense of humor and self-effacing comments, Gantos tells his story of vulnerability: a story that too many young adults will relate to as the temptations and distractions of our society lead them into the middle of trouble. Without enough direction and self-confidence young people are tempted to drift into seemingly harmless activities like pot-smoking, drug-using, and unintentional drug-smuggling and dealing. Gantos had the mind for writing, but like many did not have the drive and confidence he needed. So, he allowed himself to drift, trusting those he met who would take advantage of him, drinking and smoking to escape. However, he couldn’t escape forever. And he told of his arrest and subsequent incarceration in a pragmatic way, not blaming others for the trouble he had gotten himself into. Throughout the autobiography, I did not sense an attitude of entitlement, nor a bitter revengeful stance. He had the basic values he would need to grow up and become successful. He made mistakes but in telling his story, he showed how one does not need to wallow in self-pity and give up. He worked his job in prison, learned his lesson, and avoided future temptations.
This is a good story that many young people drifting around jobless and directionless should read. He did do something wrong, but as Wilde noted that it is what one becomes as a result of wrong-doings that matters, and Gantos has become a writer, a good one. Perhaps his experiences solidified not only his desire to be a writer, but his understanding of human nature and his creativity.
As a young person, moving around a lot as a renter, he met a lot of people and found people interesting. On Reading Rockets he tells of the development of Rotten Ralph, the cat character based on a cat he once owned. He really is a person who gets involved in life and life’s characters.
Hole in my life is a must read, but a must read for older students.

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Feb 23, 2009 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book isn't as well-known as it should be. For one thing, most children's book authors don't admit to a criminal past. But Jack Gantos had the guts to do so, and it's a great story. Honest without being brutal, and always with that Gantos edge of detail and humor, I can close my eyes and still remember when I first encountered this book. I was impressed then, and I still am.

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Jan 05, 2009 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-bio

Saw this on the YA shelves and was struck that it really wasn't YA material. But after listening to it on CD, I guess it was. This children's book author made some mistakes when he was younger and ended up in jail. It was fascinating to listen to him (he read the CD) recount how he kind of stumbled almost innocently into smuggling drugs on a yacht from the Virgin Islands to NYC--he needed the money! I think that's how stupid, even criminal things happen--- when you just don't think things throug...more

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Nov 16, 2011 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

This autobiography focuses on the idea of “What If”?. Jack Gantos tells the story of his high school days, living in a cheap hotel, going to high school and working in Florida while his family moved to the Virgin Islands. Upon graduation he headed down to St. Croix to meet them and arrived in the midst of a Revolution. He ended up smuggling hash up to New York, where he was caught and served several years in federal prison.
This book ultimately keeps the reader on his toes as you see the authors...more

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Nov 16, 2009 Ymagex added it

My Review of “Hole in my Life”

Warning: Content may contain some spoilers

The book, “Hole in my Life” is a decent autobiography that I enjoyed reading. This novel has a darker theme than the past books that I have read since it talks about the life of the author, Jack Gantos and this personal story is in depth with explicit details that shocked me greatly. I am glad that Gantos decided to tell the full story of his life to everyone unlike some famous public figures out there who hide facts and sp...more My Review of “Hole in my Life”

Warning: Content may contain some spoilers

The book, “Hole in my Life” is a decent autobiography that I enjoyed reading. This novel has a darker theme than the past books that I have read since it talks about the life of the author, Jack Gantos and this personal story is in depth with explicit details that shocked me greatly. I am glad that Gantos decided to tell the full story of his life to everyone unlike some famous public figures out there who hide facts and specific details that could ruin their so-called ‘image’. It is evident in this book that the author really did experience the events that happened as a result of the very small things mentioned and yet the extremely astonishing incidents that have occurred. For example, “Curse words, lovers’ names, crude drawings of sex organs, sex objects, and sex acts. One wall was entirely worked into a life-size portrait of a naked woman reclining.”(Gantos P.24)
Personally, this somewhat gives me a disturbing feeling and makes me feel uncomfortable because of the explicit detail shown. He could have easily just said sexual content instead of all the thorough detail, but I do appreciate his truthfulness and courage to be able to retell his life with that type of writing style (darker style). I also liked how “Hole in my Life” gave a life moral to teenagers like us to not make stupid decisions and Gantos also teaches us that there is no short cut in life and even if there is, the consequences are not worth taking the risk. In the end I was emotionally touched when Jack Gantos finally realized that what he was doing during his early years are wrong and he would rather sell Christmas trees. “I would not let myself make that kind of mistake again. No matter how desperate I was for money I was, I knew giving in would reveal that I was desperate on the inside in an even worse way- and I wasn’t, not anymore.”(Gantos P. 200) Overall I would give this book a 4/5. (less)

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Jan 15, 2009 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20-somethings, audio-edition, autobiography-memoir, books-for-boys, cautionary-tales, coming-of-age, moral-dilemmas, nonfiction, survivor, young-adult-nonfiction, incarceration-prison-jail, writing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jack Gantos is just twenty years old when he gets into trouble with the law. He decides to make some quick money ($10,000) for college by sailing a shipment of hash from the Virgin Islands to New York City. He and his partner make it all the way to NYC and up the river where they stash the hash and then start breaking it up for sale. Gantos has his 10K in hand when a bunch of feds bust into his hotel and take his partner into custody. He flees the law and escapes to Florida, where he calls his f...more Jack Gantos is just twenty years old when he gets into trouble with the law. He decides to make some quick money ($10,000) for college by sailing a shipment of hash from the Virgin Islands to New York City. He and his partner make it all the way to NYC and up the river where they stash the hash and then start breaking it up for sale. Gantos has his 10K in hand when a bunch of feds bust into his hotel and take his partner into custody. He flees the law and escapes to Florida, where he calls his father. Apparently, his family has been hassled almost constantly by the feds since Gantos left – they know who he is, they know what he’s done, they just can’t find him. Gantos’ dad says he’s got him a lawyer and the best thing to do is turn himself in. So he does.

The judge who hears Gantos’ case doesn’t have any sympathy for him. He may be young, and he may have been stupid (and he may be really sorry now), and he may really not want to go to jail, but the judge knows that mostly Jack Gantos is sorry because he got caught. Not sorry because he really regrets what he did. He gives him a youth sentence, which means that Gantos will serve anywhere from 60 days to 6 years for breaking the law.

His first night in prison, Gantos is accosted by another prisoner who offers him his protection if Gantos will be his bitch. It scares the hell out of Gantos. Another man involved in the operation is repeatedly raped by a gang of prisoners and can barely walk when Gantos meets up with him again. These experiences horrify him. Thankfully, he’s transferred to another prison, where it’s discovered that he has lice. He has to stay in the hospital, in an isolated cell, while they delouse him and at the end of his tenure - before he’s to be sent down to live with the rest of the men - he asks for and receives a job (and a place to stay) in the hospital.

Possibly, this is what makes all the difference. While Gantos still endures incarceration, he’s separate from his fellow prisoners and doesn’t have to face any of the dangers that come from living among a bunch of violent, scared, screwed up men. In fact, prison gives him time and material to do the one thing he’s always wanted – write. He spends hours, days, writing in the margins of books (journals aren’t allowed in his prison) - telling the stories of the things that happen to him, the things that happen to the other men around him. He’s able to find his voice and discovers that he has a wealth of material available to him.

You can feel Gantos’ frustration when he reads his case file and realizes that there is little he can do to convince his parole board that he’s actually changed. They don’t know him. They don’t care about him. They don’t ask him the questions he expects, and he can’t marshal his feelings. He can’t show them what they want to see. And as a result, he feels that they will never grant him a reprieve.

Gantos eventually does make it out of prison - somewhat earlier than the date of his next scheduled parole board meeting – by getting a new caseworker, and making a deal with his parole board. He applies and gets accepted into a college writing program. His parole board agrees to let him out early as long as he has a place to live and a job to support himself.

This is a short, fast, gripping read (4 discs, if you get the audio CD). It details Gantos’ crime and his punishment – heavy on the events leading up to and the commitment of his crime, and lighter on the jail time Gantos does. Reluctant readers should eat this up. (less)

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Jan 05, 2009 60rd1$3_76 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Okay this book was alright but I really didn't like it that much because it really didn't catch my attention. This book is the about the life of none other than Jack Gantos. He is a young boy but a young boy with dreams to become a famous writer but all of that is about to change when he makes a decision that takes a wrong turn. He lived in Florida but each year his father gets a job at different place's they have to travel alot. His father can tell a criminal when he sees them and automatically...more

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May 08, 2013 Stacy Arnold rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: eng-396

Hole in my Life can be summed up with two words: Big mistake! Jack Gantos tells his own adventurous tale in such a way that you can't help but read on.
It is definitely a story that could have easily been told poorly, in an "after school special" sort of way. 'I smoked pot and ended up in prison'. Which is kind of true, but his story has so much more depth.
One of the things I love about this book is all if the literary references he has throughout the story. As an aspiring writer, he prepares fo...more

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May 06, 2013 Jonathan Kranz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memorable-memoirs

I met Jack Gantos back in the early to mid '90's when he was an instructor in Emerson College's MFA program. He stood out from the pack. For starters, he was (and judging by his videos today, still is) a snappy dresser, a notable departure from the running-shoe and tired jeans look favored by many writers. His advice was uncommonly practical, with an emphasis on story structure that has proven very useful. And above all, there was his manner: unassuming, yet compelling; witty, but never deprecat...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Name: Michelle Muro
Citation: Gantos, J. (2002). Hole in my life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Genre: Informational
Award: Printz Honor
Format: Print
Selection Process: YALSA website

Review:

During the 1970s, all Jack Gantos wanted was to become a writer, a way into college, and a little adventure. However, the adventure he got changed his whole life. A drug dealer by the name of Rik offered him ten thousand dollars to sail a boat filled with two thousand pounds of hashish from St. Croix...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Joshua Harms rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hole in my Life is an immediately engaging young-adult autobiographical narrative that deals with common themes of regret and redemption in the uncommon settings of 1970s drug culture, race-revolutions, and drug smuggling. What makes this story even more compelling is that it’s the true account from an acclaimed children and young-adult author. This is a plotline that audiences would expect from fictional Hollywood—not the author of books like Rotten Ralph and Jack on the Tracks: Four Seasons of...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Gabriela rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this startling auto-biography author Jack Gantos recounts his time as a young man making careless mistakes. The book is beautifully written in a narrative fahion that never speaks down to it's reader. Gantos's account of his impressionable youth filled with misleadings is easily relatable to it's adolescent readers. Without ever regretting his decisions, Gantos instead teaches a valuable lesson to always learn and grow from everything you do. This book has heavy material that requires an olde...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Jordan Lindsey added it

the theme of this novel is persistance. This book focuses on the idea of “What If”?. Jack Gantos tells the story of his high school days, living in a cheap hotel, going to high school and working in Florida while his family moved to the Virgin Islands. before graduation he headed down to St. Croix to meet them and arrived in the midst of a Revolution. He ended up smuggling hash up to New York, where he was caught and served several years in federal prison.
This book ultimately keeps the reader on...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 13-16 year olds

Recommended to Beverly by: Best Books for Young Adults/ala.org

The image most people have of a highly respected children's book author is probably not of a convicted drug dealer, but award winning author Jack Gantos is just that. Hole in My Life is an honest enthralling biography of a very foolish young Jack Gantos looking for adventure and money for college. He agrees, without asking any questions, to sail a yacht from the Virgin Islands to New York for $10,000. He knew something was hinky about the deal, but like so many young people, he impulsively said...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Lucas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lucas Pires Morais
Ms.White
Independent Reading
18th October 12
Hole in my Life
By Jack Gantos, Biography, 200 Pages
Hole in my life is a very eye opening auto biography by Jack Gantos, a young American man who led a life without any superstition. Today Gantos is a successful children’s book write, but he was not the person he is today. Jack learned from his mistakes the hard way. In this book, he explains how his life in high school was like and how he was a very spoiled boy, with fast cars and a fak...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-420-fall-2012

Jack Gantos's memoir, despite being promoted as the story of one big mistake is really an exploration of how a string of small mistakes can land you somewhere you never wanted to go. Gantos's downfall started with a seemingly innocent decision to accompany a friend to a party and smoke some weed. From there, Gantos makes a string of increasingly foolish decisions, spurred on by "friends" who aren't really friends at all, and unchecked by his parents, who are largely absent from the narrative. Wi...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Adrianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

REQUIRED BOOK
This is a memoir of the criminal life of Jack Gantos. It tells how his criminal life began, through his punishment and a brief telling of what happened after he was released from prison. As I read the book I didn't really enjoy the story that much. It is very detailed and at times can seem stuck on a small detail when the reader is ready to move on. I did enjoy finding out exactly how he got such a harsh sentence and what exactly it was that he did to get the punishment he did. Howe...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Mariel Lopez rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book “Hole in My Life” is about a teenage boy, Jack Gantos trying to figure out what his plans for the future will be. Throughout this journey he makes decisions that will affect his life in the long run. One of the most important was that he dropped out of college. He was planning on going to live with his parents, but before he left he wanted a road trip. He was inspired by Kerouc’s book “On the Road”, to just wanted to live it up and write about his experiences. His father’s company wasn’...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Megan Horrocks rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: engl-420

This book was a really interesting read for me. It was strange to see the progression in his thoughts as he committed his crimes and then got caught. Because I read the back of the book, I knew the basic storyline so it was interesting to see the experience of him in high school listening to the past criminals as he laughed at the druggy who got caught. I knew he would eventually get into drugs and get caught as well so it was strange to know that and see that experience through his still innoce...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Amanda Childs rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: engl-420-fall-2012

After living alone in a welfare motel for his senior year in high school, teenage Jack Gantos longs for adventure. Dreaming of becoming a writer, he strikes out in turns searching for inspiration. But as his adventures embroil him deeper and deeper into the drug culture of the 1970s, Jack begins to make one mistake after another, eventually landing himself in prison on drug smuggling charges. As a memoir, Hole in my Life is both reflective and understanding: the grown Gantos giving himself and h...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

The compelling story of the author's final year in high school, his brushes with crime, and his subsequent incarceration. Gantos has written much about his early years with his eccentric family, and this more serious book picks up the tale as they moved to Puerto Rico during his junior year. He returned to Florida alone, living in a seedy motel while he finished high school and realized that his options for college weren't great. A failed drug deal cost him most of his savings and he joined his...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Shaundell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, byu-books-for-young-readers

After reading his sister’s diary when he was in the sixth grade and knowing that he could articulate better, Jack Gantos knew that he wanted to be a writer when he grew up. With his goal and strong desire, one would think that it would be easy to achieve. Right? Wrong!

Right off the bat in chapter one, Gantos states that the prisoner in the photograph is him. He then relates the story of how he ended up in federal prison. In the early 1970s, while living in St. Croix, he was persuaded to “help” a...more After reading his sister’s diary when he was in the sixth grade and knowing that he could articulate better, Jack Gantos knew that he wanted to be a writer when he grew up. With his goal and strong desire, one would think that it would be easy to achieve. Right? Wrong!

Right off the bat in chapter one, Gantos states that the prisoner in the photograph is him. He then relates the story of how he ended up in federal prison. In the early 1970s, while living in St. Croix, he was persuaded to “help” a so-called friend named Ric smuggle thousands of pounds of hash into the United States on a boat. Upon arriving in New York City, they were caught. Jack hired an attorney to plead the case before the judge; however, the ship’s log where Jack wrote the words “I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just afraid of the punishment,” was proof enough for him to be sent to federal prison.

Deeply afraid of prison life, Jack managed to stay completely clean by reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky and sketching his own thoughts and feelings in between the lines of the books. In addition, he was hired to be the X-Ray technician for the prison. Jack, along with his case worker and the administrative assistant, crafted a college application to Graham Junior College in New York, where he was accepted to start in January. This quick play allowed him to be released from prison after serving about 18 months.

To be quite honest, I didn’t want to read this book at all! Knowing that he spent time in prison and then having to read about his life there, quite frankly didn’t appeal to me at all. I like the fact that he learned from his lesson and didn’t ever to choose to repeat it again. By the end of the book, I was rooting for Gantos and even found myself wanting to search out and locate the Karamazov journal in which he wrote faithfully and then had to leave behind at the prison. Even though he experienced many setbacks in life, he truly achieved his dream of wanting to be a writer! How many of us can faithfully say that we set out and accomplished our goals?(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Amy Bethke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit-256

I was kinda surprised that I liked this book as much as I did, the writing and story actually intrigued me. It weaves Gantos life together in an interesting way from jail time, to high school, to his criminal adventures. Part of me is glad he didn't mainly focus on his time in jail because it was crazy and seriously scared me. Jack Gantos seems to be a very honest narrator and does not censor things for his readers. I love how he is finally able to turn his life around, learn from these experien...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Chrissie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit-356

Although I was happy with what I got from this book, I was left mildly disappointed. I was expecting a story that detailed Gantos's life in prison, and the majority of the story was about him and a crazy British man sailing on a boat and taking incredible amounts of hash. When the details about Gantos's time in jail did come, I did receive a feeling about what kind of things happened to him and the people that he knew. I'm glad that the details weren't terribly graphic (they were graphic enough,...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-lit

Well, I can't say I've ever read a book like this before. This novel is the biography of Jack Gantos, a "problem teen" who ended up in jail for "conspiracy to deliver drugs" to the United States. His story was amazing because he was such a complex character--a boy who loved reading and writing but who was also trapped in the world of drugs and alcohol. I listened to this book, which was narrated by Jack Gantos, so it is possible that I missed a lot, but what I heard was interesting (especially c...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Audrey Laurey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excerpt:

"Reading On the Road, I felt more like Sal Paradise than Dean Moriarty. Sal was in love with everything and everybody. His eyes were as wide and open as his heart. But, Dean confused me. He just wanted to consume everything. He had to keep moving like a shark, and in the end he was a tragic ghost of a person instead of a stream of milky way jazz under open highways. I wanted to move like Dean, but I wanted Sal's heart and soul." page 41

"It seemed to me that no amount of forgiveness woul...more Excerpt:

"Reading On the Road, I felt more like Sal Paradise than Dean Moriarty. Sal was in love with everything and everybody. His eyes were as wide and open as his heart. But, Dean confused me. He just wanted to consume everything. He had to keep moving like a shark, and in the end he was a tragic ghost of a person instead of a stream of milky way jazz under open highways. I wanted to move like Dean, but I wanted Sal's heart and soul." page 41

"It seemed to me that no amount of forgiveness would ever wash away his need to be forgiven every day. He reminded me of the Flannery O'Connor story I loved, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," where the Misfits shoots the hugely annoying grandmother to death and then says she would be a good woman, if somebody had been there to shoot her every minute of her life." -page30

Plot Summary:

Jack Gantos is an aspiring writer that doesn't have a high enough GPA or the money to go to a college he wants to in order to pursue creative writing. In order to raise that money he is offered a deal where if he assists in smuggling and selling hashish he will get 10,000 dollars and can pursue his dream of being a creative writer, and have some interesting material to write about. Unfortunately, he gets caught smuggling hashish and must go to jail and serve six years in a federal prison.

Critical Analysis:

This short book is the memoir of Jack Gantos. It does not concentrate as much on his time in prison, but on his drug smuggling adventure and explores his aspirations to be a writer. There are a lot of reference to modern literature that the author is able to relate to. For instance, there are a few references to Jack Kerouac's On the Road, which is a pivotal piece of beatnik, outsider literature. This memoir is very interesting because it reveals insecurities and desires that I feel most "artsy, creative writer" types would be able to enjoy.

The memoir is told through self reflection and journal entries that Jack made while smuggling hashish. There is nothing hard or flawed about this character, instead he is reflective and sensitive. Also, this book does not demonize young people who experiment with drug use and drinking alcohol. Instead it provides a very humanist perspective that those activities do take place amongst young adults and it does not necessarily mean that one is an addict or doomed.

Jack is reckless at times, but ultimately wants to live an adventurous life and develop creative material for his writing. I think this book would be a good read for both young men and women. As someone in their late 20's I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to friends my age. I remember thinking that Jack's story did remind me of Kerouac's On the Road, but Jack Ganto's is a loving character that is full of life and not just consuming carnal pleasures (which I found to be the case when reading On the Road years ago). Also, Gantos's thoughts are well organized and poetic at times, whereas I found On the Road to read more like a poetic prose written by a kid with severe ADD. So, I somewhat consider this book to be a more modern and relatable On the Road for today's young adults, and I think reading this memoir would introduce them to other classic outsider authors that Gantos name drops throughout the book.

A good read, and highly recommended to everyone. :)

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Mar 28, 2012 Mjg rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Hole in my Life" is an excellent memoir that tells the story of a young Jack Gantos, who's aspiration is to become a writer. However despite putting a lot of his thought and time into making this dream into a reality he can't find any inspiration to start him of as a writer. In the end, it takes a series of poor decisions, and two years of jail time for him to find his voice and an appreciation for the world around him.
One thing that I thought made this memoir different from other memoirs was t...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Claire Ramos added it

Shelves: yal-genre-project-memoirs

This memoir takes a really interesting approach to describing some of the most major, life-changing events of its author and recounting how and why he came to be a writer. Jack Gantos has this really great attitude about him. This story is about a drug conspiracy and some hard time in the slammer, but Gantos makes the whole thing an entertaining anecdote. As he pieces his story together, we start to get a picture of this kid, right at the end of high school. He has a job he’s not crazy about, a...more
This memoir takes a really interesting approach to describing some of the most major, life-changing events of its author and recounting how and why he came to be a writer. Jack Gantos has this really great attitude about him. This story is about a drug conspiracy and some hard time in the slammer, but Gantos makes the whole thing an entertaining anecdote. As he pieces his story together, we start to get a picture of this kid, right at the end of high school. He has a job he’s not crazy about, a restlessness about him, college expenses looming over the horizon, a taste for adventure and the will to write. So this kid, in all his teenage glory decides he’ll help smuggle drugs into the country by sailing a boat heavy with hash to New Youk from the Virgin Islands. Needless to say, he got caught, and as a result of being mixed up in this craziness, Gantos spends some time in prison. (His sentence was supposed to be up to six years, but he gets out in much less than that.)
As a reader, I love the attitude Gantos takes with his situation and the tone in which he recounts the details of his past. He’s very straightforward about everything. He makes no apologies or excuses for his actions, in the sense that he truly chalks it all up to his own stupidity. The way he regards these facts of his past, his amused but self-deprecating manner; it gives the memoir a very down-to-earth vibe. It doesn’t take away from the seriousness of his transgressions, but also does well not to paint a “woe is me,” “I ruined my life,” “see all that I have overcome,”-type story. I really liked the way he wrote, and it wasn’t until I looked him up that I realized I knew who he was. I’m familiar with his works. I might have read a few when I was younger. It was a bigger surprise to me how far this man had come and what he ended up doing with his life after seeing what children’s books he was responsible for.
As a teacher, I probably wouldn’t teach this book because of the drug usage, and drinking, and what not. If I had a class of older students, though, I might put it in my classroom library. I like it because Gantos found himself through this experience and started down the path to his career after those seemingly damaging bumps in the road. In a weird way, it’s kind of a coming of age story, though severely unconventional. It might be an interesting resource for any kids mixed up in bad stuff, and you never know—you may have some of those. Hopefully this story would help them want to turn things around and not feel like they’re too far gone and unable to accomplish anything.
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Jan 17, 2012 Lexi.vernaglia rated it 5 of 5 stars

In Hole In My Life, the main character and author of the book Jack Gantos brings us through his life growing up as a teenager and through his time in jail. He was a young boy living on his own making his own money to support himself while his father moved jobs a lot trying to earn enough money to support his family. While Jack was in high school he always spoke about how he wanted to write. It was a desire of his, but as an action, it was just a thought. He never went through with it until he wa...more

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About Jack Gantos

Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD. Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery Honor, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. His newest book, The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs (2006), deals with twins, euge...more Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD. Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery Honor, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. His newest book, The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs (2006), deals with twins, eugenics, taxidermy (in particular, human taxidermy), and implicit incest.

Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to son of construction superintendent John Gantos and banker Elizabeth (Weaver) Gantos. The seeds for Jack Gantos' writing career were planted in sixth grade, when he read his sister's diary and decided he could write better than she could. Born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and raised in Barbados and South Florida, Mr. Gantos began collecting anecdotes in grade school and later gathered them into stories.

He moved to a Caribbean island (St Croix) and began to train as a builder. He soon realized that construction was not his forté and started saving for college. He decided to move to complete high school and while staying in a motel a friend introduced him to hash. He soon hooked up with a drug smuggler and was offered a chance to make 10 000 dollars by sailing to New York with 2,000 pounds of hash. With an English psycho captain on board they set off to the big city. Once there they hung out at the Chelsea hotel and Gantos carried on dreaming about college. Then, in Jacks own words, "The shit hit the fan" and the F.B.I. burst in on him. He managed to escape and hid out in the very same motel he was living during high school. However, he saw sense and turned himself in. He was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, which he describes in his novel -Hole in my life-. however he found a plan that involved getting him released in prison and accepted into college. It worked.

He received his BFA and his MA both from Emerson College. While in college, Jack began working on picture books with an illustrator friend. In 1976, they published their first book, Rotten Ralph. Mr. Gantos continued writing children's books and began teaching courses in children's book writing. He developed the master's degree program in children's book writing at Emerson College in Boston, and is now teaching in the Vermont College M.F.A. program for children's book writers.

He married art dealer Anne A. Lower on November 11, 1989. The couple has one child, Mabel Grace, and they live in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Quotes from Hole in My Life

“Someone once said anyone can be great under rosy circumstances, but the true test of character is measured by how well a person makes decisions during difficult times.” — 18 people liked it

“Since I was trying so hard to make books lead my life, I didn’t want to read them and then just put them back on the shelf and say, “good book,” as if I was patting a good dog. I wanted books to change me, and I wanted to write books that would change others.” — 8 people liked it

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