Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story (Today Show Book Club #4) [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Datcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

As a teenager raised in L.A.'s inner city without a father, Michael Datcher had already committed theft, learned the ways of the street, and developed a mortal fear of police. But Datcher had a dream about a very different kind of life-and a second chance to make good on a promise to himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Much like Mark Matousek's acclaimed memoir, Sex Death Enlightenment, Datcher's debut confronts the psychosocial damage caused by fatherlessness. In this case, the paternal absence is compounded by abandonment by Datcher's mother. A former editor-in-chief at Image magazine, and now a successful poet and writer, the author spent part of his childhood in Long Beach, Calif., obsessed with the idea of becoming a husband and father, but determined not to become an absentee dad like many of the men in his African-American community. As a young boy, he idolized his adoptive mother, who acted as an emotional anchor for him during the turbulent years of his adolescence in the 1970s. (She had been handpicked to raise him by Datcher's biological mother, who had been raped at age 16.) Datcher's voice in this heartfelt confessional alternates between that of a truly bewildered young man desperately seeking a male role model and a hip, cocksure guy. Emotionally withdrawn and suffering from a stutter, Datcher seeks to find his way by running with a group of other lost souls, briefly stumbling into petty crime that leads to arrest and being terrorized by police. Later, he becomes romantically involved with a young Dominican woman, though complications soon develop that threaten to cast him into the role of absentee father that he has so long resisted. Deeply reflective, occasionally offbeat and tearful, Datcher's memoir combines attitude, honesty and romance in a way that should appeal to both men and women. This triumphant tale is a stunning tribute to perseverance, courage and the power of positive thinking. (Mar.)Forecast: Datcher's story taps into a raw nerve in the black community, and his vibrant, down-to-earth voice should, with the help of a national media tour and radio satellite tour, attract a strong following.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Alternating between flashbacks and real-time experiences, Datcher, a poet and journalist (Los Angeles Times, Washington Post), describes his childhood in inner-city Los Angeles as an adoptee cherished by a strong single mother whom he later chose over a birth family that offered to take him back. His most compelling point is that his later social mobility and personal relationships were both motivated by and undermined by the lack of a father (his biological mother was raped). Sidetracks into promiscuity, lawbreaking, and a kind of religious cult lend a gritty authenticity to the narrative. Although emotionally powerful, explicit, and poetic, Datcher's first original work (he edited Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur) ultimately reads like a work in progress. Recommended for urban public libraries where it would complement the less introspective and more tragic story chronicled in Antwone Fisher's Finding Fish (LJ 1/01). Both books provide nonstereotypical coming-of-age and coming-into-success stories of young black men in late 20th-century America. Antoinette Brinkman, MLS, Evansville, IN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Today Show Book Club edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573223301
• ISBN-13: 978-1573223300
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fences were Raised, Painted and even Climbed, June 9, 2001

By 

B! (Round Rock, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story (Hardcover)

Without a doubt this is the best book I've read in the past 2 years or so. Everything from the characters, to the plot to the writing style was a great gift delivered by the author. His writing is poetic without needlessly waxing poetic. Vibrant words drifting from a very good Queen's English to a very real street Ebonics brought this memoir to life.

Much of Datcher's world is far from mine, but as a black man living in my own skin, I really felt him as he moved in and out of the different situations brothers have to move through just to make it through each day. I like how he showed how some black men hate, how some black me love, how we can carry our fear and can show our courage, and most of all how sometimes we get beat down (physically, psychologically and emotionally from both endogenous and exogenous factors - often at the same time), yet often times manage to get up and carry on.

Thanks for the words Mr. Datcher, but more importantly thanks for the story behind them (for some reason I wanted your wife's book to be a better read than yours - think I just liked her jacket picture better), but I think you edged her out a bit. Hope you pen another piece of prose at some point.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY MOVING STORY!!!, March 27, 2001

By 

Janeth C. Walker (VAFB, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story (Hardcover)

RAISING FENCES is a breathtaking account of one black man's (Michael Datcher) journey from childhood to the remarkable man he is today.

Told with such truth and emotion, RAISING FENCES depicts Mr. Datcher's experience being parented by an adoptive mother, who definately sets a solid foundation for his growth into manhood, and moves through a forest of obstacles that ultimately leads him into lifelong decisions about and for his future.

This book is not only about family, friends, relationships, love and deception...... but also about growth and identity.

Exceptionally written and poetically told, RAISING FENCES is a book for ALL to read so much so, you will be left intoxicated with words of wisdom!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope for Black Love Relationships...., January 6, 2003

By 

Dr. Blount "Dr. Crystal H. Blount" (Naperville, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story (Today Show Book Club #4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was unbelievably refreshing. In fact I was so impressed with the level of honest reflection and emotional depth in Raising Fences that I have discussed it with almost every man I know. Datcher's willingness to let us see inside his soul had provided a context
for Black men and women to discuss the issues that are plagueing our relationships. He gave me hope for Black Love and also set a new standard for communication between the sexes. I may start a book club just to keep talking about how good it is. The icing on the cake is the beauty of the poetry and prose throughout the book. I predict that this is a classic that will keep people coming back again and again. Beyond the love story, we have a basic "coming of age" formula within a battleground of tumultuous experiences that could easily have shaken the foundation of anyone's belief system. Yet, Datcher captures the struggle and creates a jewel for his readers to enjoy. Buy two. Read one and share the other.