Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Kathleen Tracy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

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

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This star bio by entertainment journalist Tracy qualifies as the "real" story of Ellen DeGeneres. The book traces her life from her mother's first and subsequent marriages to the cancellation of Ellen in 1998. Avoiding juicy speculation, Tracy focuses on the mundane details of DeGeneres's crowning as the "funniest person in America" in 1982 and her rise to sitcom fame and failure in the 1990s. Allegations of ego struggles surface in the multiple firings and cast restructuring following Ellen's premiere, but Tracy remains neutral, offering both sides and allowing readers to choose. There is nothing remarkable in this story of a woman caught between studio bias and her own self-defeating actions, but we are left with an awareness of DeGeneres's enduring humor and a hope that she will return to television soon. Most public libraries will want to add this to their collection of celebrity biographies.AKelli N. Perkins, Herrick P.L., Holland, MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

"Ellen DeGeneres never set out to be anybody's advocate for social tolerance, nor the standard-bearer for gays on television," says Tracy. However, massive cast changes and a title change in the second season transformed DeGeneres' show. Finishing thirteenth in the ratings, "Ellen had reason to feel optimistic." But she wanted to bring in more female writers to "get into a woman's head exactly and write it from that perspective." She was also concerned with "finding a consistent voice for her character, which at times still exuded a vagueness that translated into a feeling that something was missing." A San Francisco critic identified the missing something in a piece headed "The Sitcom That Does Not Speak Its Name," which concluded that seeing Ellen's character as a lesbian would help a scattered sitcom make sense but could keep the show from being a bigger hit because the "pressure to be a role model, . . . coupled with the inevitable conservative protests, might squeeze the life out of an up-front Ellen." (But was it conservative protests that killed the show--or lack of laughs?) Tracy dishes up the details, including DeGeneres' father's reaction to her coming out, as well as tidbits from our Ellen's tawdry past in this comprehensive look at all things DeGeneres, which complements Betty DeGeneres' Love Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey (unavailable for review). Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Carol Pub Group; illustrated edition edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155972496X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559724968
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,395,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars CHEAP REHASH OF MAGAZINES, NEWS ARTICLES AND VIDEOS, July 11, 2001

By 

Paige Turner "Film Fanatic" (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres (Hardcover)

I bought this book expecting a carefully researched, full biography on Ellen. Instead it was basically a rehash of magazine articles, videos, and news stories about Ellen and her Coming-Out. The author did not even interview Ellen, so we don't get a true, direct-source picture of Ellen's life. Instead, we have old information taken from other sources and condensed into this book. It doesn't sound like the author interviewed Ellen's closest friends and associates, either; I got the impression that a lot of the information was third- or fourth-hand, not directly from the sources. This book is crassly commercial and written at the time that public interest in Ellen was at its peak. It reads like a fan magazine and its sole purpose was to make money, not to provide an insightful biography of Ellen DeGeneres. I would only recommend it to those who no longer have access to the magazines and videos about Ellen's show and her coming-out.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WHY NOT READ A MAGAZINE?, October 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (EDMONDS, WASHINGTON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres (Hardcover)

AS AN ABSOLUTE ADMIRER OF ELLEN AND DESIRING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE REAL LIFE OF ELLEN DEGENERES, I WAS VERY DISAPOINTED TO READ A BOOK THAT HAD NO IMPUT FROM ELLEN DIRECTLY. THIS BOOK WAS TOO INVOLVED WITH THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF THE GOINGS ON OF HER SHOW, THAN THE PERSONAL EVENTS IN ELLEN'S LIFE. OVERALL THE BOOK WAS WELL WRITTEN, BUT VERY UNEVENTFUL.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot of good info, but it reads like a newspaper, April 18, 2005

By 

Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ellen: The Real Story of Ellen Degeneres (Hardcover)

I'm giving this book 4 stars, because I'm a huge fan of Ellen, and as far as I can tell, this is the only biography available. If there were a few more biographies available, I'd probably only give it two stars.

This book reads like a newspaper written by a mediocre journalist. Or a compilation of a bunch of articles from Us or People. It's really annoying to read because of that style.

But, it does contain a lot of good information. It answered most of my questions that I had about Ellen. It doesn't have any direct interviews with Ellen, but I don't think that Ellen is going to say any more about her past than she has. In one book, Ellen says, "I can't remember anything about my childhood." And, I think that's probably true. That's probably why she makes a bunch of jokes about everything, because she's got a horrible memory.

And, this book is mostly about the TV sitcom, Ellen. Probably about 75% of it is about the sitcom, and the biography ends after the end of the show. So, since she's got a talk show, this book is really dated. And, three of the chapters are dedicated to various co-stars of the TV sitcom, so this book really isn't a 100% Ellen book.

So, if you're a huge Ellen fan like me, you will probably want to dredge through this book. For everyone else, I'd recommend passing on it and waiting for Ellen's next biography to come out in a few years.