Mexicans & Mexican Americans, Women's Biography, Latin American Music, Popular & Dance Music, Music Biography, Women's Biography, Latinos/Hispanics - Biography, Rock & Roll, North American Music

Selena : Como la Flor

Name: Selena : Como la Flor
Author: Joe N. Patoski
ISBN: 9780316693783

by Joe N. Patoski

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Overview

Selena: Como la Flor tells the story of this vital, outgoing, wildly popular performer in greater detail - and with greater accuracy - than it has ever been told before. She was the most talented daughter in a music-loving family and the lead singer - starting at age eight - of her family's band. Under the determined guidance of her father, Selena exploded into the growing field of Tejano music and became its leading star. The book traces Selena's spectacular rise and reveals the rich Mexican-American culture that nurtured and supported her every step of the way. Author Joe Nick Patoski, a senior editor for Texas Monthly who has written extensively about Selena and Texas music, lovingly documents Selena's determined work, from her first performance in a corner of the family's Tex-Mex restaurant in Lake Jackson, Texas, to the growing fame that took young Selena out of school and put her in front of even-larger adoring audiences across the nation. He tells the story of how her beloved songs like "Como la Flor" and "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" came into being and became instant Tejano classics. We see the stunning run of hits, performances and awards that made Selena a superstar and the extraordinary rapport between Selena and her audience that made her not just a music star but a cultural icon for millions. At the same time, the book explores the strains that came with success - tension within the family over Selena's marriage to her guitarist, Chris Perez; tension over the relentless grind of touring, recording, and creating new material; tension about musical direction and Selena's drive to record songs in English and for a broader pop market; and tension over control of Selena's own fashion business and the who managed it, Yolanda Saldivar. The book traces the complex and troubled relationship between Selena and her killer and details the events leading to the murder with the most extensive and authoritative coverage anywhere. The capture of Saldivar and her trial and

Synopsis

The murder of Selena, the 20-year-old Mexican-American singer, shocked Latino America - and seized the attention of an Anglo audience that was largely unfamiliar with Tejano, the vibrant Tex-Mex musical fusion that Selena had popularized. This biography provides an in-depth look at this tragic star, whose posthumous album - her first featuring songs in English - rocketed to number one in America and finally gave her the crossover audience she had dreamed of. Written by an authority on Texas music who followed her career for years, the book takes the reader into the culture that inspired her music and gives a portrait of the close-knit family organization that supported her rise and ultimately set the stage for her downfall.

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Editorials

Library Journal

The 1995 murder of 23-year-old singer Selena has had a continuing impact, especially on the Hispanic community. Patoski, a senior editor at Texas Monthly, seems well acquainted with the world of Tejano music and the part Selena played in it, and his biography is more objective than other works on Selena. Though neither Selena's enigmatic father nor her other family members cooperated with Patoski, many others in the Tejano music world did. Patoski weaves Selena's story into the broader context of the music business and the changing bicultural scene of which she was a part, making this the best biography available of the singer. Highly recommended for popular music collections and for libraries serving Mexican American communities. Libraries interested in providing something on Selena in Spanish may be interested in Himilce Novas and Rosemary Silva's bilingual Remembering Selena (St. Martin's, 1995), a well-illustrated but highly subjective treatment for a less scholarly audience. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/95.]-James E. Ross, WLN, Seattle, Wash.