Selena

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.