
Everyone has moments of feeling lonely or disconnected, and it is important to allow ourselves to feel these emotions and to find healthy ways to cope with them. Ultimately, the key to filling the hole in my life has been to recognize that it is a normal and natural part of the human experience. Other times, however, I have turned to unhealthy habits as a way of numbing my feelings of loneliness and emptiness. Some of these have been healthy, such as seeking out supportive relationships and engaging in activities that bring me joy and fulfillment. In order to try to fill the hole in my life, I have turned to a variety of coping mechanisms. This sense of loneliness has been especially acute during times of transition or change, when I have felt unsure of my place in the world and unsure of who I am.


I have always struggled with making and maintaining close relationships, and as a result, I have often found myself feeling alone and disconnected from others. It could also come from a lack of fulfillment in one's personal or professional life, or from a sense of disconnection from others.įor me, the hole in my life has been a feeling of loneliness and isolation. It could be the result of a loss or a change, such as the end of a relationship or the death of a loved one. But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos-once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell-moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life.The hole in my life is a feeling of emptiness that can come from a variety of sources. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison. In Hole in My Life, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.

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 agents caught up with them.

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.
