ariel dorfman. the latest book is called "the displaced." stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. ifore we go to ariel dorfman, have to ask you about that song. it features prominently in your earlier book, "thee s sympathiz" viet: i would often attend vietnamese weddings and vietnamese people are really western music as a import, but they have made it their own. this. upp going to you would hear one of those. incorporate a lot of music i heard in the novel. amy: ariel dorfman, it was great to see you read from your new novel "darwin's ghosts," and we hope to get to that. i want to talk to you about your latest essay in "the displaced." first, tell us your refugee story. ariel: well, it is longer and more complicated because it starts with my grandparents, who had to flee the programs -- pogroms of romania, russia, and the situation in russia, so they can to argentina. been my dad had to leave because the military were persecuting him in 1944. i had to follow him. then mccarthy began to persecute my dad in

bruce dorfman is the lead for alameda point partners...of developers who plan to turn this area into 800 units of housing... 200 of them offered at below market rate to alameda teachers, school employees and low income families. the project also includes 600-thousand square feet of commercial space... 15 acres of parks and open public space... and, 10-million dollars in funding for a new ferry terminal.bruce dorman/developer- "that provides a direct connection to downtown san francisco, and we think that's going to be a game-changer as well, for both, uh, other employers, as well as people that live here at alameda point." and, in addition to housing and retail space... this project is expected to bring 25-hundred construction jobs to this area. jennifer ott/city of alameda- "the city brings the land, the developer brings the money and the expertise, and together, we form a partnership that really maximizes the chances for success for, um, a successful development." at the groundbreaking ceremony wednesday... local leaders talked about how