Cats and Students, Bubbles and Abysses

This is one of my favorite Rick Bass stories. It really comes to life because of the first-person narration. The narrator is very verbal. You can immediately start to picture him as a character. The type that's chatty and stubborn about his own way of doing things and his own opinion. He has the same rambling problem that all of Bass' narrators do but in this case it only adds to the characterization.
The narrator's situation with his roommate is a lot like the the narrarator in our first story's relation with Gus. He hates him and yet he still stays with him. This is evidenced by the lede (which is a smattering of sentances thrown together).
The characters in this story never seem to be going anywhere, thus the bubbles in the title. And just like the rest of Bass' characters most are perfectly aware and content to stay exactly that way.
The only character who doesn't seem to be trapped is the cat and he's got a personality fit to suit any human. Which is part of his charm and the reason why the narrator's descriptions of him are so fun.
This story also has the heart that the others do, more so in a way because of the lively narrator. This narrator is not "dead" inside like Kirby and the others now are, but rather he's in your face and alive. He doesn't take lip from anyone and he's sure that whatever he says or believes in is the truth and nothing but.
Robby's character in the story is interesting because he's a college kid who's hanging out and drinking with his older washed up professors. But in many ways he's just the same as they are. The biggest difference is that he hasn't given up yet and he's not too old in their minds. Their hope rests in him. Through him they will have the big break that they never had the ambition to have for themselves.