John Gardner's Back And He's Convinced There Isn't A Good Writer on This Damn Thing -- But He's Willing to Let You Try Another Exercise Anyway

Back in March, if any of you can remember that far back, Mr. John Gardner threw down the gauntlet to our motley collection of amateurs and dabblers in the art of the written word, and a surprising number took up that challenge. Fun was had by all. Well, Johnny's back and he's got a new challenge that's not entirely dissimilar to that old March challenge. That's no coincidence. Where "describe a lake as seen by a young man who has just committed a murder. Do not mention the murder" is numbered '4b' in his book, The Art of Fiction, July's Literary Smackdown challenge was numbered in that same book as '4d'. So, without further preamble (except for, perhaps, one final exhortation to please please enter this month), here is this month's challenge!

"Describe a building as seen by a man whose son has just been killed in a war. Do not mention the son, war, death, or the man doing the seeing."

There you have it. So cinch up your fightin' tights, wipe that smear of blood off your face, and lumber to your corners, Smackdowners! Let the grizzled cut-man work his razor on that swollen eye while you set aside the searing pain and ponder how to write an entry so brilliant that it sets the blogosphere afire with its obvious perfection. Easy enough, yeah? Now do it.