by Henry Beard and John Boswell
A manic-depressive who wallows in his damp Manhattan quarters, Gus could be just another story in the naked city—in fact he's the famously bipolar polar bear at the Central Park Zoo whose neurosis made national news in 1994. With a little help from the humorists who brought us O.J.'s Legal Pad, Gus bares all in this droll fantasy in which he ditches the Arctic for the Big Apple and suffers poverty, pickpockets and jury duty before hitting his stride as a bond trader (with Bear Stearns) and a party animal. The jokes are so-so; the photos of Gus around town are computer-altered and hilarious. So what if Gus, in going for the gusto, goes from greenhorn to wiseacre? Give him credit. If he can make it there, he can make it anywhere. (Villard, $12)
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