Rating: 
Summary: A definite page turner!
Review: This book was so moving you literally feel every emotion he is feeling. That is the true test of a book, to take you THERE. And let me tell you, you are drawn in from the first page. Michael has such a beautiful way with words. Every phrase is poetic. I couldn't put this book down. "Raising Fences" gives such an in-depth look into what Black males are feeling, I think people from any race would have a better understanding of their hurt, dreams, and fears after reading this. If you every wanted to look inside a Black man's head to understand him, especially if he grew up in an inner city neighborhood, here it is in 262 pages. You will laugh, cry, and shout...and love every minute of it.
Rating:
Summary: Offers a glimpse through a black person's eyes.
Review: Aside from giving a white person some understanding of a black person's perspective, this book is a great experience. Mr. Datcher shares part of himself with us. From the story of his adoption and his experience with the police as a child, his need for a father and hunger for a male role model, then trying to establish an intimate relationship, all the way through the book, his ability as a writer made it come alive.
Rating:
Summary: A Total Experience
Review: Awesome,riveting. This book touched my soul. I laughed, I cried and walked away with so much understanding. This isn't just a black man's story..Its a human story. You can touch it, see it, feel it. It is life as most of us know it. Real. This is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Now that was powerful
Review: If you think black men are hopeless or incapable of deep feelings reading Raising Fences may cure you of that notion. The author rose above a rotten start in life, bad boyhood choices and the opinions of his contemporaries to create a rich life with a woman he loves. Powerful stuff. Kimberley Lindsay Wilson, author of 11 Things Mama Should Have Told You About Men.
Rating:
Summary: Come woman be my wife.....Now thats black love.
Review: I truly think this wonderful, and well written book isn't getting the praise it desreves.I love my black male authors,but Michael has taken reading to a whole 'nother level.I got word of it through one of the guys featured it the novel.I figured it to be just a friend trying to promote a friends work.Was I wrong! Raising fences, to me as a black woman helped me better understand the trials and emotional struggles that the men in my life go through.If you for some stupid reason choose not to read the whole book, you MUST at least read the poems from the story.There's one in particular from a little boy that grabs your heart and toys with your emotions. So many authors try to write about life from a black persons perspective in south central, but they normally lack the depth,and realistic ways that we handle day to day life.After reading this I couldn't go back to the same ol'novels that I see in every bookstore,so I'm waiting for a second.
Rating:
Summary: Moving memoir of a man making his way
Review: This was a moving story of a man who as a young boy desired to have a life that included a wife and family with a white picket fence. How does a boy born of rape, but raised by a loving woman and family, but in near poverty in urban Los Angles achieve such a dream? Datcher methodically takes us on this journey of truth and discovery from his days as a young precocious kid who loved books and language and had a good business sense. He and his friends had businesses, one of stealing bikes and refurbishing them. His academics eventually got him into schools where he was exposed to white kids of higher economic levels. In high school he developed a double life, one at school and another in the neighborhood. He also devloped a stutter but challenged himself by debating. Despite a high school teacher telling him that he should stick with one of the state colleges because U.C. was too tough, he went on to U.C. Berkeley, and pursued his studies. Along the way, he found became a born-again Christian eventually shedding his friends but never completely at peace with the philosophy. He eventually ended back in southern California in grad school and leaving his religion behind, at least that religion that had him tied up in indecisiveness. He eventually became reacquainted with the black community embracing the artists world and started a writing workshop. And then he met a woman that threw his world into turmoil. The very thing he didn't want, an unwanted, unplanned child was on the way. How he handled this fork in the road over the next year and the surprising turn is a story many young many live. Meanwhile his career is building as he gets becomes a multi-published writer of poetry and essays. He eventually meets the woman who becomes his wife and their love story is beautifully detailed. This is a must read for young men as a testament to the principles of a man who held to his dreams and comes out a shining example of a man who comes into his own.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Great Poetry! True Love Story!
Review: This book was very well written and had my interest from the first page. I liked it even more when I realized that I just finished reading Michael Datchers' wife's book, Resurrecting Mingus. I really got a feel for the personalities of both writers and will be looking for more of their work. Mr. Datcher lead an interesting life and I saw how he was able to "raise fences" to become the man that he is today. I wish that all our African-American boys had the inspiration that he had from his adopted mother to become a great man of today. I hope that Michael continues writing poetry, because it was so real. He hasd inspired me to write new vows to my own husband!
Rating:
Summary: The Fences were Raised, Painted and even Climbed
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Heart warming and inspirational
Review: After I saw the title of this book, I assusmed that it was another version of "Sisters just don't know how to treat a brother". I was totally wrong. Michael Datcher was adopted and fatherless. I could not begin to image the things that went on in his head. As an unconscious mechanism he had to "Raise Fences" to protect himself from all the things he could not explain. It was also difficult for him to break through those very same fenses as he searched for a wife and family that he desired. He had to prove to himself that he was not like so many of the men he encountered that left their families. Datcher is a gifted jouralist and poet. Datcher's story has a way of capturing the reader and taking you on a journey with him. I really enjoyed experiencing the story with Datcher. Peace and Blessings!!
Rating: 
Summary: Nicely told
Review: This story was definitely amazing! I thought the writing was a bit awkward in the beginning, but the author's honesty and openness kept me reading. The story is nothing like I envisioned. It is indeed "A Black Man's Love Story". I really enjoyed sharing in the highs and lows he outlined so transparently. Now, I must read Resurrecting Mingus!!!!!
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