Salton Sea, California, U.S.

Marc Weingarten talks with Marisa Silver, whose new book, The God of War, is set in the landscape of the Salton Sea.

“Marisa Silver wouldn't have it any other way. As she drove slowly around the perimeter of Bombay Beach, one of the forlorn towns in the region that inspired her latest novel, The God of War, the L.A.-based writer was rapturous. ‘Oh, look at the bougainvillea,’ she said while pointing at a tall sprig held together by chicken wire. A few feet down the road, Silver spotted another home surrounded by tires whose insides had been filled with five-and-dime flowers. ‘Oh, that's really nice,’ she said without a trace of irony in her voice.” – from “Writer Puts Salton Sea on the Map,” by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times