Open Throat

'An instant classic' - The Guardian

By: Henry Hoke

Narrated by: Pete Cross

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction

'An instant classic' - THE GUARDIAN

'A bloody masterpiece.' - MELISSA BRODER, author of THE PISCES

'Witty, emotional and gripping, Open Throat is a short but savage thrill ride' - THE INDEPENDENT

'Open Throat is Bret Easton Ellis meets mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills . . . it already has people talking' - THE SUNDAY TIMES

I’ve never eaten a person but today I might . . .

A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Fascinated by the voices around them, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their own identity.

When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call 'ellay'. As they confront a carousel of temptations and threats, the lion takes us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: do they want to eat a person, or become one?

'Open Throat is what fiction should be.' - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'A blinding spotlight beam of a book that I was completely unable and unwilling to put down.' - Catherine Lacey, author of Pew

Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, ELLE, Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, i-D, Boston Globe, Nylon, Alta, Shondaland, Chicago Review of Books, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Literary Hub.

Critic reviews

Open Throat is a blinding spotlight beam of a book that I was completely unable and unwilling to put down. I am not convinced Henry Hoke isn’t a mountain lion. (Catherine Lacey, author of Pew)

An instant classic . . . The writing is so sinuous, so wry and muscular, yet with a padding, pawing playfulness, that you’re ready to go anywhere Hoke wants to take you . . . It’s funny, it’s heartbreaking and nail-bitingly propulsive, with an exquisite Hitchcockian climax. (Rahul Raina)

The lion king of Los Angeles . . . Hoke’s choice of narrator results in some fang-sharp incisiveness and
flashes of brilliant humour

A beguiling and memorable work

Witty, emotional and gripping, Open Throat is a short but savage thrill ride

[A] slim jewel of a novel . . . Though many readers will label Open Throat unconventional, this act of ravishing and outlandish imagination should be the norm, not the exception. At its best, fiction can make the familiar strange in order to bring readers and our world into scintillating focus. Open Throat is what fiction should be.

A propulsive, one-sitting read, if also a somber one . . . Without spoiling the story, it’s perhaps enough to say that the climax of Open Throat is a very L.A. one, with spotlights and drama. But it’s also a universal one.

My definition of an unputdownable book is one that is funny, full of longing, and a bit fantastical. If a novel is all three, I'm sold. Open Throat by Henry Hoke is, for me, a Rosetta Stone of unputdownability: an allegorical tale of a queer mountain lion fighting for survival (and love) in the hills of Los Angeles. (Melissa Broder)

Your off-beat beach read? Open Throat is Bret Easton Ellis meets mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills . . . it already has people talking

I defy you to hear the premise of this sophomore novel from the always-interesting Henry Hoke and not immediately smash that preorder button . . . a playful, poignant, tragicomic delight

A mountain cougar’s glimpses of LA (‘ellay’). Loved this tale of loneliness, longing and gore in the Hills. (James Cahill, author of Tiepolo Blue)

I didn't know I would feel such attachment to a mountain lion when I started reading, but in Henry Hoke's talented hands, they become an instantly memorable and endearing protagonist.

This is one of the most unique books of the summer . . . a miniature masterpiece

Open Throat is a strange and beguiling prose/poem/novella about a curious, queer and raveous mountain lion stalking the Hollywood hills . . . Uniquely and bizarrely seductive

This lyrical story of loneliness and kinship in Los Angeles is, by turns, delightful and melancholy—and inventive throughout.