By the end of 2020 it seemed that almost everywhere I went someone was reading or talking about Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. People were leafing through on the beach; Dog-ear copies stood next to half-drunk cups of coffee in cafes dotted around Bondi, and almost every time I was at Gertrude & Alice’s, a hopeful buyer asked if they had it in stock. And while I’m not usually into celebrity memoirs – in fact, I’d have a hard time telling you the last time I read one – I was intrigued by what Greenlights is all about making the reading world at Seemed to take a storm. Knowing almost nothing about Matthew McConaughey or his filmography (aside from a longstanding hatred of the time he played an exaggerated version of himself on the Escape from New York episode of Sex and the City), I decided to do it first book I read in 2021. And while I started the book with almost no expectations, I was soon swept away by McConaughey’s poignant and influential ode to life.
Greenlights book review
Partly memoirs, part life instructions, part collection of excerpts from diaries that the actor has kept for decades. Matthew McConoughey’s Greenlights is an insightful and intimate exploration of a southern boy’s journey to stardom. Born to “parents twice divorced and three times married,” I loved reading McConoughey’s honest account of bringing up a tumultuous household marked by violence, love, and humanity. I loved reading about the time when mink oil went horribly wrong as an acne cream, the time of a stolen pizza that resulted in a concussion, and an unfortunate lawsuit his father never forgave him.
McConoughey’s view of life is integrated into the nostalgic story; As a self-proclaimed optimist, he sprinkles the text with the term “green light” – after which the memoirs are named – and explains it as “confirmation [and a way of] Prepare for success. A green light can be as simple as adding your coffee to the coffee filter before bed. So tomorrow morning all you have to do is push the button. “
From the year he spent overseas as a Rotary Exchange student in Australia after his father passed away, to meeting his current wife, to the films that made him a household name, Greenlights is a beautiful one Written, Comedy, and Comedy The one-of-a-kind narrative offers an open look at the background of one of Hollywood’s most popular actors.
A brilliant book to start the new year with and that is as inspiring as it is entertaining. I’ll end my review of Greenlights with one of my favorite quotes: “Reach your reach. Have immortal finish lines and color your red light green because a roof is an artificial thing. “
Greenlights summary
An unconventional treatise with harsh stories, unlawful wisdom, and teachings learned from the Oscar® winner how to live with greater satisfaction
I have been in this life for fifty years, tried to solve its riddle for forty-two years, and kept a diary of references to that riddle for thirty-five years. Notes about successes and failures, joys and worries, things that amazed me, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to be less stressful. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man How to have a purpose in life. How can I be more of myself?
Recently I took the courage to sit down with these diaries. I found stories that I lived through, lessons that I had learned and forgotten, poems, prayers, recipes, beliefs about what mattered, some great photos, and a whole lot of bumper stickers. I found a reliable subject, an approach to life that gave me more satisfaction at the time and yet: if you know how and when to deal with life’s challenges – how to get relative to the inevitable – you can Enjoying a state of success is what I call “catching the green light”.
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. These are fifty years of my sight and seeing, felting and figuring out, cooling off and shaming. Graces, truths and beauties of brutality. With walking away, laughing and wetting while trying to dance among the raindrops.
Hopefully medicine tastes good, some aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without your pilot’s license, go to church without being reborn, and laugh through your tears.
It’s a love letter. To live.
It’s also a guide to catching more green light – and realizing that the yellows and reds will eventually turn green too.
Good luck.
Matthew McConaughey Author Bio
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey is married with three children and a devoted son and brother. He sees himself as a storyteller by trade, believes it’s okay to have a beer on the way to the temple, feels better with a day of sweat, and is an aspiring orchestra leader.
In 2009, Matthew and wife Camila founded the Just Keep Livin Foundation, which helps students at risk make healthier choices about their minds, bodies, and spirits. In 2019, McConaughey became Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Austin and Secretary of Culture / MOC at the University of Texas and the City of Austin. McConaughey is also a brand ambassador for Lincoln Motor Company, owner of Major League Soccer club Austin FC and co-creator of his favorite bourbon on the planet Wild Turkey Longbranch.
further reading
If you loved Greenlights, you might also like one of the books that made the Fashion Journal’s “reading list” that will motivate you to take control of your life in 2021.
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