In 1991 she got married in Vegas as an ironic anti-establishment joke, never filed the paperwork, and discovered two decades later it was completely legally binding. That accidental 20-year marriage is the perfect introduction to Janeane Garofalo, a true original who built a career and an entire reality strictly on her own rules.

We explore how the daughter of an Exxon executive became one of comedy's fiercest anti-establishment voices, pioneering alternative comedy, forcing Hollywood to confront its absurd standards, and wading into cable news combat. From bombing in male-dominated 1980s clubs to reading article clippings on stage, she rejected the setup-punchline format and helped invent a whole new scene where the joke's mechanics were laid bare.

• How she co-founded the alt-comedy scene by moving stand-up into a bookstore and t ...