Digger, an 85 kilo wrestler, and Sadie, a 26-year-old speed swimmer, stand on the verge of realizing every athlete's dream—winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Both athletes are nearing the end of their athletic careers, and are forced to confront the question: what happens to athletes when their bodies are too old and injured to compete? The blossoming relationship between Digger and Sadie is tested in the all-important months leading up to the Olympics, as intense training schedules, divided loyalties, and unpredicted obstacles take their draining toll. The Olympics, as both of them are painfully aware, will be the realization or the end of a life's dream. The Bone Cage captures the physicality, sensuality, and euphoric highs of amateur sport, and the darker, cruel side of sport programs that wear athletes down and spit them out at the end of their bloom. With realism and humour, author Angie Abdou captures athletes on the brink of that transition—the lead-up to that looming redefinition of self—and explores how people deal with the loss of their dream.
The Bone Cage
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About the Author
Angie Abdou is a fiction writer and teacher with a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Calgary. She has published a short story collection called Anything Boys Can Do (2006) and a novel called The Bone Cage (2007). The Bone Cage is taught in university-level Sport Literature courses across the continent and was included on Canadian Literature's "All-Time Top Ten List of Best Canadian Sport Literature." Angie was raised in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and now lives in Fernie, British Columbia, with her husband and two children. Please visit www.angieabdou.ca
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Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Through Sadie and Digger, Abdou captures the heroic quests of these hopeful Olympians in all their gritty pain and glory. Sequences describing Digger's wrestling matches and Sadie's grueling sets of lengths are vivid, intense, and authentic. . . . The Bone Cage is well paced and readable, memorable for its fresh perspective on the lives of athletes and the obstacles they must overcome." Quill and Quire
"Original, visceral, emotionally alive, Angie Abdou's first novel is illuminated by her many clever takes on the divided ways our culture looks at bodies . . . this engaging first novel also brilliantly catches not only the perils and trials but also the disciplined shimmer of the life of a champion swimmer." Elisabeth Harvor, author of All Times Have Been Modern
"This novel is as taut, lean and focused as the driven athletes' lives it chronicles." Lynn Coady, author of Saints of Big Harbour
"The Bone Cage immerses the reader in a passionate plot that is all the more compelling because of its realism. Angie Abdou has created characters that are intelligent, flawed and wonderfully sensual."
Dr. Douglas Brown, Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary
"Original, visceral, emotionally alive, Angie Abdou's first novel is illuminated by her many clever takes on the divided ways our culture looks at bodies . . . this engaging first novel also brilliantly catches not only the perils and trials but also the disciplined shimmer of the life of a champion swimmer." Elisabeth Harvor, author of All Times Have Been Modern
"This novel is as taut, lean and focused as the driven athletes' lives it chronicles." Lynn Coady, author of Saints of Big Harbour
"The Bone Cage immerses the reader in a passionate plot that is all the more compelling because of its realism. Angie Abdou has created characters that are intelligent, flawed and wonderfully sensual."
Dr. Douglas Brown, Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE DAY AFTER YOUR LAST FIGHT...
Sep 24 2011
By terrie schauer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Angie Abdou's The Bone Cage is not only entertaining and well-written, but it gives a great snap-shot of the daily life of elite athletes.
Featuring the Olympic training camps of wrestler Digger and swimmer Sadie, the book traces the highs, lows and grinding fatigue that are part of these athletes' lives. The book opens with a scene in which Digger and his teammates sweat to cut weight, and anyone who's struggled with the psychological drain of sweating off pounds will relate.
Beyond Abdou's story-telling, the book has two particularly interesting themes that relate to elite amateur sport. First, The Bone Cage explores how the practice of sport at the National and International level can become a self-centered way of life. Because they are required to give4 so much to better performance, elite athletes spend most of their time and energy in practice. This leaves little else for family- or romantic life. At the amateur level, where athletes are usually living on very little while they train and compete, many individuals also give their careers a back seat. It's interesting to follow the lives of Digger and Sadie as they negotiate family tragedy and financial stress.
For me, however, the most interesting aspect of the book, is the theme of retirement from sport. Both of the protagonists are at the end of their competitive careers. The Bone Cage gives real insight into what it feels like to be so unifocused--with all your and your family and community's energies and efforts directed at one goal. It highlights what it must feel like when, from one day to the next, you lose this focus because it is time to move on, and you go back to being a 'civilian'. From a Buddhist point of view, it's a great story about letting go.
Anyone who is or has been seriously involved in sport will relate to this story about what happens the day after your last fight. It's also just a good read though. I recommended the book to my brother, who's not involved in serious competitive sport. After he asked me: "Why would you ever want to cut weight ?", he told me he really enjoyed the book.
So it seems you don't have to be an athlete to enjoy The Bone Cage .
Featuring the Olympic training camps of wrestler Digger and swimmer Sadie, the book traces the highs, lows and grinding fatigue that are part of these athletes' lives. The book opens with a scene in which Digger and his teammates sweat to cut weight, and anyone who's struggled with the psychological drain of sweating off pounds will relate.
Beyond Abdou's story-telling, the book has two particularly interesting themes that relate to elite amateur sport. First, The Bone Cage explores how the practice of sport at the National and International level can become a self-centered way of life. Because they are required to give4 so much to better performance, elite athletes spend most of their time and energy in practice. This leaves little else for family- or romantic life. At the amateur level, where athletes are usually living on very little while they train and compete, many individuals also give their careers a back seat. It's interesting to follow the lives of Digger and Sadie as they negotiate family tragedy and financial stress.
For me, however, the most interesting aspect of the book, is the theme of retirement from sport. Both of the protagonists are at the end of their competitive careers. The Bone Cage gives real insight into what it feels like to be so unifocused--with all your and your family and community's energies and efforts directed at one goal. It highlights what it must feel like when, from one day to the next, you lose this focus because it is time to move on, and you go back to being a 'civilian'. From a Buddhist point of view, it's a great story about letting go.
Anyone who is or has been seriously involved in sport will relate to this story about what happens the day after your last fight. It's also just a good read though. I recommended the book to my brother, who's not involved in serious competitive sport. After he asked me: "Why would you ever want to cut weight ?", he told me he really enjoyed the book.
So it seems you don't have to be an athlete to enjoy The Bone Cage .
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Decent Read
July 7 2012
By Samadian
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
A decent read that I would imagine is an accurate representation of the life of an athlete. If your whole life is striving to achieve the big win, what comes after? The life an athlete might appear to be glorious but The Bone Cage tells a very different story. It seems like a lonely and repetitive life with not much chance for any glory at all.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Canada Reads Selection for 2011
Feb 6 2011
By Linda Evans
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
. . . and also a great aid in falling asleep late at night. If you're not really, really into competitive sports, this book is like one exhausting workout after another to read. It doesn't become interesting until a really awful thing happens that feels unwarranted and manipulative as a plot device. Not sure how this one ended up in Canada Reads.
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3.3 out of 5 stars
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