Author: Matthew McConaughey
First Published: 2020
Pages: 304
Genre: Autobiography, poetry
Greenlights is a touching, witty and thought-provoking autobiography written by Matthew McConaughey. It feels overwhelmingly personal whilst still telling an amazing story.
He recounts and comments on his life through a series of journals and notebooks he has kept along the way. Most notably is the inclusion of bumper sticks and slogans which serve as page-breaks throughout the book and often provide a lighter side to the content.
He details his family life, his childhood, his start in acting and ultimately the paradigm shift from Rom-com heartthrob (Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) to serious-role star (Dallas Buyer's Club, True Detective) which made him into the respected actor he is to date. This is coupled with plenty of humbling moments along the way.
The core thematic piece of Greenlights is the use of a traffic light system throughout the book. When things go well in his life, Greenlight. When they go poorly, Red Light. When it slows him down or requires him to shift his perspective or way of life, Yellow Light. It is often visited and is a nice hook in keeping the reader to continue on.
It is self-described to not be a self-help book but I challenge the reader to finish this book and not feel changed at the end. At times I was laughing, at others, crying but by the end I felt inspired. That there was still a little humanity left in unsuspecting places of the world.
Overall, I give Greenlights the rating of 4.5/5. There isn't many reasons to put this book down and it will definitely be featuring in my rereading list.
Here's to many more Greenlights.
Greenlights is available in hardcopy, kindle or as an e-book (which happens to be narrated by Matthew McConaughey himself, which is a nice touch).
If you have taken the time to read this, thank you. This is my first book review so I would appreciate any feedback or support. I've been reading for most of my life but only recently decided to get into writing.