Raising Fences Latest Today Show Book Club Selection

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On Monday, October 7, NBC News' The Today Show announced that the fourth selection of its monthly "Today's Book Club" is Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story, by Michael Datcher (Riverhead Books). Author Terry McMillan, author of Waiting to Exhale, chose this month's selection. Both McMillan and Datcher were guests on the morning show.

In choosing Datcher's memoir, McMillan noted, "It's about an African-American man not knowing who his father is, who felt he had no identity. I felt it was fascinating and funny…. I think it's a valuable story."

In Raising Fences, Datcher details his life as an adoptee growing up in inner city Los Angeles and his search to find his father.

The author, who is also a poet and journalist (the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times), said that his memoir describes a man who is trying to find a "love of self." "It's a book about pain, but also about trying to overcome pain," Datcher told Today Show co-host Matt Lauer. "My [adoptive mother] made love a verb for me."

About having his book selected for the club, Datcher said, "I feel blessed and honored. It's gratifying. I feel loved right now."

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