The Horse's Mouth

Cover of the first edition, published by Michael Joseph

The Horse's Mouth is a 1944 novel by Anglo-Irish writer Joyce Cary, the third in his First Trilogy, whose first two books are Herself Surprised (1941) and To Be a Pilgrim (1942). The Horse's Mouth follows the adventures of Gulley Jimson, an artist who would exploit his friends and acquaintances to earn money, told from his point of view, just as the other books in the First Trilogy tell events from their central characters' different points of view. Cary's novel also uses Gulley's unique perspective to comment on the social and political events of the time.