The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Hoke, Henry. Open Throat. MCD. 2023. Kindle.

The novel is narrated in first-person present by the main character, a mountain lion. There are no chapter breaks, and there are no punctuation marks or capitalization (except for the word "I"). The narrative is broken up in lines to mimic the more fluid language of the mountain lion. The mountain lion lives in the Hollywood Hills, and the story begins as he watches a woman film a video on her phone of two men—one with a whip who is dressed as Indiana Jones, and another who is laying on the ground telling the man with the whip to “flick my nuts” (3). The mountain lion reflects that he tries to understand humans, but they make it very difficult. He imagines attacking and eating the man with the whip. However, the humans leave, and the mountain lion goes to sleep in his thicket to escape his hunger.

When he wakes up, the mountain lion goes to the tent “town” where an older man, a younger man, and a couple live with their dogs. The mountain lion drinks from their water pump and eats a bucket of chicken bones they left out for him.

The next morning, an earthquake rocks the hills, and the mountain lion feels afraid. He goes to his cave and eats some bats, then falls asleep. When he wakes up, a man is peeing on him. Once the man sees him, he throws his phone and runs away.

The mountain lion moves to a new thicket in the trees above the hiking path. He listens to people talking about their therapists and remembers how his father chased him out of his home forest. More hikers walk by and drop green paper, which the mountain lion knows people love. He picks it up and brings it to town, then notices that a pack of coyotes are preparing to attack the dogs. He sneaks up on them and kills one of the coyotes, then eats him and falls asleep.

In the morning, the younger man finds the dead coyote and scolds the mountain lion, calling him a bad cat and throwing a bottle at him. The mountain lion goes back to his thicket and listens to a boy talk about how he is a poet. The mountain lion thinks he is also a poet because he always eats the heart of his deer first.

The hikers are so loud that the mountain lion cannot sleep, so he heads higher up into the hills and is shocked when the city sets off fireworks in the sky. For days, he is terrified and pensive. At sundown, two men walk into the cave, and the mountain lion follows them and watches as they have sex.

He remembers the mountain lion he met after his father chased him away—the kill sharer who invited the mountain lion to eat his deer with him. The two had bonded, but then the kill sharer had been hit by a car while crossing the highway. The mountain lion had rushed across the highway, hoping to be struck, but he made it across and ventured up into the Hollywood Hills.

Back in the cave, the two men leave, and the mountain lion fantasizes about having sex with the kill sharer. The man with the whip walks by the cave with a friend, and the mountain lion follows him. The two men talk about homeless people, and the man with the whip decides to play a “prank” on the camp by setting their trash on fire and running away.

The entire encampment catches fire, as does the younger man. The mountain lion tackles him and drags him in the dirt to put the fire out, but the others throw rocks and sticks at him. The mountain lion rushes away, leaving the humans to burn, and runs through the burning hills.

Days later, the wind changes, and the smoke clears. The mountain lion heads down to the abandoned city and finds a zoo. He eats a koala and goes to sleep. In the morning, the zookeepers arrive, and the mountain lion runs to a residential area.

He finds shelter in the backyard of a house that belongs to a man named slaughter. Slaughter’s teenage daughter, little slaughter, finds the mountain lion and decides to give him raw meat and water. The mountain lion stays in the cellar beneath the porch until rain nearly drowns him. Little slaughter rescues him and takes him into her room, where she calls him a goddess and promises to take him with her to “santa fey.” She also tells him about a magical place called “diznee.”

The mountain lion has a vivid dream of going to diznee with little slaughter as her emotional support animal, riding the rides, eating chicken, and being celebrated by all the people with a big parade and fireworks. When he wakes up, the maid is standing in little slaughter’s room and screaming.

Slaughter comes in and scolds little slaughter, who insists that the mountain lion is not dangerous. Slaughter tries to call the police, but little slaughter escapes with the mountain lion, and they head to santa fey. Traffic is bad, so little slaughter gets off the highway.

The mountain lion looks out the window and sees the man with the whip. He opens the back door and decides to attack the man with the whip even though he is not hungry. Little slaughter drives away, and helicopters full of padded men appear in the sky. The mountain lion tries to explain himself, but his growl is not what they want to hear.