Briefly

"During my two years in Iowa City, steeped in the scarily competitive world of ambitious young writers jostling for the few available grants and fellowships, watching one another with fierce rivalry and hawk-eyed criticism, I read The Horse's Mouth many times, in its entirety and also piecemeal, dipping into favorite sections when I needed reminding that a real artist is neither noble nor heroic, and the artistic life is a solitary, unsavory, scrappy ordeal that never lets up until you die. The best thing to do would seem to be to keep at it, through prison, poverty and scandal, and when you do die, go out laughing."

Kate Christensen on Joyce Cary's The Horse's Mouth, described as being "...narrated by the shambling rogue Gulley Jimson, who is always down on whatever luck he might have once had, but who never stops painting..."

Found here.