Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen DeGeneres

All Ellen DeGeneres wanted to be was funny. She kept her humor clean and steered clear of politics and social agendas, instead honing a quirky, off-center, mistrustful view of the world.

I was coming home from kindergarten--well, they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. It's good for a kid to know how to make gloves.

If ever there was a more unlikely comic to become a symbol of controversy, it was Ellen DeGeneres. Throughout her career, she balanced her ever-growing success with her desire to keep her sexuality private. How that struggle affected her life and career and ultimately inspired her to come out of the closet, putting her life in the spotlight and her career at considerable risk, forms the emotional core of this biography. And in a broader sense, the controversy caused by Ellen's acknowledged sexuality is a reflection of America's own struggle with tolerance and acceptance.

Ellen examines the repercussions still being felt by the comic as a direct result of her revelations and offers a glimpse of what her future may hold. It details:

Ellen's colorful family history, which includes a swashbuckling pirate ancestor

How her conservative father turned his back on Ellen when he learned she was gay

The personal tragedy that became her greatest inspiration

Her secret life in the gay bar scene during her stand-up days

The women Ellen has loved

Her life as a gay crusader