About the Book
Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction
'An instant classic' - The Guardian
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, overlooking the city that humans call ‘ellay’.
Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days grappling with the complexities of their own identity, and ultimately the question: Do they want to eat a person, or become one?
'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
About the Author :
Henry Hoke is the author of the memoir Sticker (Bloomsbury Object Lessons), The Book of Endless Sleepovers, the story collection Genevieves, and the novel The Groundhog Forever. His work has appeared in Electric Literature, Triangle House, The Offing, and the Catapult anthology Tiny Crimes. He holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, where he taught for five years, and presently teaches at the University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop.
Review :
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.
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.
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
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.
[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.
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.
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.
Henry Hoke’s narrator is the most credible animal witness to human behavior since Robert Bresson’s Balthazar. Original, fun and completely awakening, Open Throat is a devastating portrait of LA today.
It's not often you come across a book with such an incredibly unique premise that you can't help but read it, if only for pure curiosity. And it's even less common for these books to be wholly and entirely gratifying, entertaining, and enjoyable beyond expectation. Reader, Open Throat by Henry Hoke is all of these things.
Open Throat strikes the perfect balance of humor and trauma, creating an encapsulating read that interrogates the complexities of gender identity and a world marked by climate change.
Open Throat feels like a comic book and a really good one; it feels the inside of animals, specifically one animal, a mountain lion, and with them we desire blood and I can’t tell you how it ends but I love knowing a mountain lion so much. The beauty and tragedy of all of nature is in this character. Open Throat is a fierce writing act. Henry Hoke makes it true.
Daring and moving . . . Give this sinewy prose poem a chance and you'll fall under the spell of a forlorn voice trapped in the hellscape of modern America
Strange, unique, and mesmerizing.
In this fantastical, deeply moving, and original adventure--also an unforgettable reckoning with contemporary Los Angeles--Henry Hoke introduces an animal whose life is more than just survival: they are full of longing, regret, memory, sadness, and astute observation.
Open Throat is an instant cult classic and a bloody masterpiece. Rhythmically brilliant, heart-wounding, and scathingly funny, I’m in love with a mountain lion and in awe of this book.
The premise alone makes Henry Hoke's startling achievement worth the purchase . . . Philosophical and heartfelt, Open Throat is the ultimate immersion into the mind of an unlikely protagonist.
If like many people you are sick of human protagonists that are often nihilistic, self-destructive, fundamentally lonely people, then perhaps you would prefer Open Throat, which is narrated by a similarly lonely mountain lion who lives in the Hollywood Hills.
My favorite book of this century so far! I keep putting off writing this blurb because every time I pick up Open Throat I re-read it and fall back in love with this gay-ass big cat and then I have to spend the whole rest of the day thinking about mountain lions and humans and sex and bodies and death and climate change and bad dads and NY v LA and what is even possible in this world. Henry Hoke is a magician.
Wholly original, inventive, and surprising on every level. It affirms the capaciousness of the novel as a form. I wish more books took the kinds of chances Open Throat does.
Brave; moving; excitingly bold.
Open Throat is a fable for our times that cements Henry Hoke as an essential voice in experimental and deliciously queer fiction.
A tight, funny book with an alarmingly unique tone
Distinctive. Endearing. Poetic. Funny. In Open Throat, Henry Hoke has given voice to something both familiar and strange, that speaks to the conscious and unconscious mind at the same time, deftly revealing the world.
Compulsively readable
Read something crazy this summer.
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.
Inspired by a real lion who famously lived in Hollywood, this hilarious and touching tale is blazingly original and really rather brilliant.
Unique and bizarrely seductive
. . . replete with wisdom and an unnervingly astute understanding
Playful [and] provocative . . . By turns funny and melancholy, this is a thrilling portrait of alienation.
Compassionate, fierce, and bittersweet, this is an unforgettable love letter to the wild.
Highly imaginative . . . a fascinating take on the human world and his place in it. Open Throat is a treat for both animal lovers and anyone who appreciates innovative fiction.
