Greenlights
“Unflinchingly honest and remarkably candid, Matthew McConaughey’s book invites us to grapple with the lessons of his life as he did—and to see that the point was never to win, but to understand.”—Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.
Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges—how to get relative with the inevitable—you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.”
So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.
Hopefully, it’s medicine that tastes good, a couple of aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without needing your pilot’s license, going to church without having to be born again, and laughing through the tears.
It’s a love letter. To life.
It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights—and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.
Good luck.
Reviews (208)
Gather Around the Campfire
Greenlights is a remarkable first book from an already renowned artist. Kind of a mashup of Anthony Bourdain with Ernest Hemingway, McConaughey tells stories with the aplomb of accomplished raconteur. Part memoir, part life guide and part ethic Greenlights is worth reading for many beyond McConaughey’s fan base; basically anyone who likes a good man’s man adventure story. Born into the lower middle class in East Texas, McConaughey looks back nostalgically at a childhood few would envy. His parents divorced and remarried each other twice, he was subject to corporal punishment and money was always an issue. Yet he doesn’t complain about disadvantage. In fact he honors his parents despite their shortcomings. He adheres to a philosophy of choosing to recalibrate what seems like the inevitable until it turns into a green light or way forward in life. After a rite of passage involving brawling with a barroom bouncer, McConaughey pursued acting with the drive and hard work ethic that was instilled into him. Finding early success, he choose to live in a way directly opposite to the Hollywood scene. Traveling the country with his dog, going off on expeditions to the middle of Africa and South America, McConaughey sees livin (drop the g to indicate it’s always a verb) as more than just the material success and creature comforts many of us settle on. Finally, after years of womanizing, McConaughey settled into a successful monogamous relationship and fulfilled his life long ambition of being a father. Nearly simultaneously he chose to walk away from lucrative rom-coms to focus on something more artistic. Initially successful in winning an Oscar for the Dallas Buyers Club, McConaughey admits that he hasn’t achieved the popular success he envisioned. But that is all grist for the mill, experiments in livin that are ongoing. If this is the kind of man you would like to read about, Greenlights will be an enjoyable and inspirational read. It’s rare that a successful actor has such a distinctive off air personality. But if you’re turned off by physical conflict, wild adventures and a man who brags about rarely showering alone than Greenlights is not for you. Personally, while not finding all parts of McConaughey’s biography admirable, I found enough of him to be so different than what Hollywood typically churns out that the book was worth reading. Recommended to all who feel they’re similarly traveling in unmapped regions and want to gather around the campfire to hear a fellow wanderer’s tales.
Laughable
Worst book ever written. The only redeeming value here is that it gives you a glimpse into the mind of a Narcissist. The writing is, at best, at a Middle School level and the depth of content is yet another level below that. It’s so shallow that it’s laughable. Green light is a testament to the craziness our times - that we celebrate complete airheads like MM. The degree of arrogance and total lack of self-awareness by the Writer/Subject would be shocking if it wasn’t so amusing. If there is any order in this universe, 100’s of years from now someone will pick this book out of landfill and,after reading the first few pages, be absolutely convinced they have stumbled across one of the greatest parodies ever written about the 21st century.
Insulting statement
All races matter. We’ve all experienced discrimination. But, this statement takes the cake. Wow! “All lives can’t matter until Black Lives Matter more” What? Does this make you feel better. This statement was written at the end of the book. I would not have proceeded any further had it been at the beginning.
Even better than my high expectations for it!
Amazing book, clever and funny. Not your typical memoir, by design. As a huge fan, I enjoyed it very much. Also just got the audiobook because he narrates it and I wanna give it another round listening to him. If you like him, you’re sure to love it.
Worth every dollar!
Already received and enjoying it immensely. Beautifully written with candor, humor and reflective insight. A great read.
Unfiltered , raw , authentic . Excellent read
Excellent book !! Matthew is far more complex than I ever realized. “ Y’all quit bitching about the dust jacket “ seriously cmon y’all
Awful
Disjointed thoughts. Pointless. I don’t get it. Rambling. Ridiculous waste of time. I can’t find 8 more words to describe this nonsense. Just disappointed
Dust cover strange
Question! Why is the dust cover at least an inch shorter than the book . Looks weird. Since it’s for a gift I’m concerned. And it’s a bit curled up at the edge.
Musings of an abused narcissist.
The writing is entertaining, but the message is disturbing. Written by an abused, resilient, survivor who credits his abusers with his success. A better name would have been gaslight, because that's what he's done to himself to justify the horrors of his life. I'm sorry for the pain he went through, but this is not a playbook that anyone ought to follow.
Mostly lies and made up stories!
He tells about a 100 foot high tree house built with stolen lumber. His brother hitting his father with 2 x 4 in the head twice. Talks about his mother and dad having a fight in the kitchen and finishs with "___" on the floor. Trip through Europe on three motorcycles where he says he rented three new hi end motorcycles for $400 each and the proprietor wanted $12,000. He says they wrecked one in Italy and the proprietor brought a new to them. The only good movie he ever made was MUD.
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