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Greenlights

By: Matthew McConaughey
Narrated by: Matthew McConaughey
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From the Academy Award®-winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.

I've been in this life for 50 years, been trying to work out its riddle for 42, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last 35. 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 realising that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too. 

Good luck.

The audiobook now includes an exclusive interview with Matthew McConaughey which was recorded during his book tour in 2021. 

©2020 Matthew McConaughey (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Celebrity Entertainment Inspiring Funny Thought-Provoking Feel-Good Heartfelt Witty Success
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Critic reviews

"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)

"McConaughey is a talented actor and a fine writer, but a total genius at living. He attacks life with an exhilarating ferocity. This is a wildly unexpected and delightful book you can't just read, you have to experience." (Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October)

"It shouldn't surprise you that this book is good, but it will surprise you just how good it is. Wise and entertaining, this is an inspiring memoir and how-to from one of the great outlaw philosophers and artists of our time." (Ryan Holiday, author of The Daily Stoic)

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McConaughey likes lists. I found I loved the way he listed. He narrates with gusto. His texan drawl is perfect. He made me laugh out loud. He chatted, he charmed, he stepped right into my sitting room and I learnt a thing or two about him, about life and about living. Never, ever, have I enjoyed an Autobiography so much.

Hearty, happy, honest and a hell of a read!

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What a fantastic audio-book. Mathew’s voice makes you feel like you were born a deaf man and suddenly, his voice has awoken your ear drums back to life. The whole book is like a well written bird song with the silky flow of the river Nile.
The stories are enjoyable, exciting and funny to listen to but most also convey a strong and relatable message. We are all human and Matthew, however god like he may look/sound/smell/taste, he is also a human just like the rest of us.
What a legend.

Alright alright alright

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McConaghey narrates the book, very enjoyable, thought provoking and a funny book, highly recommended.

Worth the time, listened in one go !

Enjoyed the narration & beautifully written

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Great insight to the world of the man and what Inspired him on his journeys.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

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I listened to 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 by Matthew McConaughey as an audiobook, and as it was narrated by the man himself, this really added to the delivery of his book.
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.
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Greenlights is an unusual book, and it feels like a hybrid of genres. Part autobiography/memoir, and part self-help book of sorts, McConaughey relays key events from his life and intersperses them with 'bumper stickers' and 'prescriptions' of life lessons he has learned along the way.
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𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭.
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There is no doubting that McConaughey has led an interesting and somewhat privileged life.
Coming from humble beginnings, he grew up in what plenty of people would view as an abusive or dysfunctional household, but he doesn't think so, reiterating that he views it as tough love and that he is not a victim.
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𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞.
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McConaughey has done his fair share of travelling, and while on his travels has attempted to immerse himself in other cultures.
It's clear that from a young age McConaughey had a lot of confidence and independence, and because of this he has been able to go through life with a clear sense of who he is, and what his own personal values are, and he tries to relay this to the reader/listener.
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𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨.
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Clearly McConaughey is a very talented actor, and has starred in lots of big blockbuster films. True Detective is one of my favourite series.
For me, it was intriguing to hear about the background of some of his roles, including how his throat singing on Wolf of Wall Street was not in the script, but is now one of the most memorable scenes from the film.
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𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.
𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬.
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There are lots of points that McConaughey makes throughout his book that I agree with, especially when he talks about how our own personal values are the most important driver for how to live our lives.
I agree that our values are what unites us, and that they should span across the things that make us different.
However, I do also think that it is very easy for someone in such a privileged position to tell people that they should focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.
In an ideal world of course this is what we would all want, but it isn't reality for lots of people, even if it is true of McConaughey's life experiences.
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𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬? 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬; 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧' 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧'.
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Greenlights will be an enjoyable read for fans of McConaughey, and for people who enjoy celebrity autobiographies in general.
McConaughey is definitely a character, and the only thing that was missing from the audiobook is some photos that he makes reference too throughout the narration.

Greenlights

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