THE WATCH <i> by Rick Bass (Washington Square: $6.95) </i>

The characters in Rick Bass’ vivid short stories probably would style themselves “good ol’ boys,” although alcoholic clods would be a more accurate assessment. A decidedly Yahoo tone permeates these stories, even coloring the first-person narrative of the redneck professor of English literature in “Cats and Students, Bubbles and Abysses.” Bass is a skillful craftsman, but he uses his talent to describe unpleasant characters in unlikely situations. In “Mexico,” Kirby, a loutish parvenu, expends a great deal of effort raising a large bass in a junk-filled swimming pool. A couple of local punks catch the prize fish, and the narrative just fizzles out. Presumably, Kirby’s fish is intended as a Symbol that Stands for Something (Nature? The Impossible Dream? America?), but the reader has to stand for too much to get through the story.