Why this book: I read an interview with McConaughey in the NYT, sent it to my friend Jay, and he and I decided to read it, and decide whether it might be a good one for a book club we run together. We both said “Yes!”

Summary in 3 sentences:Matthew McConaughey’s personal memoir from when he was a child, through adolescence and into his early years breaking in to Hollywood.  He shares his struggles, his lessons learned, his lucky and unlucky breaks and the path that led him to become one of the most successful male actors in Hollywood.  But it is also about his personal journey to grow, mature, and distill wisdom from his journey, to include his family, friends and starting his own family – a personal, intimate and fun adventure

My Impressions: Before I started to read the book, my friend Jay strongly recommended that I listen to it, as McConaughey reads it himself – in fact, I’d say he performs it!  And indeed, he is quite a story teller, not just the stories but the way he tells them makes the audible version worth considering.  But this memoir is more than stories – he distills from his pretty crazy experiences life-lessons that apply to all of us.  It is a fun read, with humorous and often profound insights from stories well-told – an engaging look inside the life of a 50 year old man who has done much of what most men can only dream of.  But it all didn’t come easy – he took chances, and followed his heart, often against conventional wisdom, and at least so far, it seems to be working out well for him.  And he clearly enjoys sharing his story with us.

MM had been keeping a diary of his experiences and insights since he was a teenager, and he used these diaries as a basis for this memoir.  The insights and epiphanies he had recorded along the way he shares with us, with the sensitivity and perspective that comes with age.   Many of his insights he calls “bumperstickers” – easy to remember heuristics that provide guideposts for life.

What is a “greenlight?”   It’s a signal that says “Keep moving”  – in his words, “an affirmation of our way. They’re approval, support, praise, gifts, gas on our fire, attaboys, and appetites…health, success, joy sustainability, innocence and fresh starts. We love greenlights….<but> greenlights can also be disguised as yellow and red lights.  A caution, a detour, a thoughtful pause, an interruption,…sickness and pain.  A full stop, a jackknife, an intervention, failure, suffering a slap in the face, death.  We don’t like yellow and red lights …They say no, but sometimes give us what we need.”  p 13  MM’s book is about greenlights -some of which started out as yellow or red, but he turned them green.

He begins with his youth growing up in small town Texas with a strong, autocratic and traditional father who ruled the house with an iron fist.  And likewise a strong and opinionated mother, and of course, that meant sparks in the marriage.  His parents married three times, divorced twice.  Some of his strict Texas upbringing is disturbing at first, but over time it seemed to work for MM and his brothers, as they grew up strong and resilient, with strong values of courage and independence. 

He was a wild, rambunctious, and creatively “naughty” young man, but he also did well in school.   One of the best stories of his early life was when he was accepted into a Rotary Club overseas High School exchange program to study in Australia,  under the condition that he guarantee that he would stay the full year.  He arrived in Australia, and found himself placed in a rural community, with an eccentrically conservative family, who were intent on molding him to fit their very strict values and ideals.  That story, and how he dealt with it, is itself worth the price of the book.

He tells how he eventually stumbled into acting, how with some luck, perseverance and hard work he got his first minor film roles, and then his breakthrough in A Time to Kill.   He shares how overnight, he went from a nobody on the street to a celebrity recognized wherever he went, and the impact that had on him – good and bad.  

He kept getting better parts and became a huge success in the Romantic Comedy genre – which he said was fun and paid well, but after a while, he got bored with RomCom parts.  When it seemed that those were the only roles he was being offered, against the advice of almost everyone, he took a chance and quit accepting them.  That led to a long dry spell – before he eventually got roles that he found interesting, challenging, and fit more with what he wanted to do.  Then  Dallas Buyers Club came along.  To prepare for that role he went from 182 to 135 lbs to play the role of Ron Woodruff.  He won an Oscar for his stunning performance in that movie.  True Detective with Woody Harrelson won him even more respect, accolades  and satisfaction.

He also shared how every couple of years he would be inspired to just take off,  alone, and explore the world and himself – doing what he called a “walkabout.”  He went to remote parts of Africa and Peru, following guidance he’d gotten from a rather bizarre recurring dream.  In one case, he went to stay in a very remote monastery in Arizona to figure out some things that weren’t coming together for him in his life.  To me, his impulse to step away from the glamour and fun, off the conventional path and explore other worlds and his own consciousness and life, is a big part of what I respect about him. And I believe these trips were key to his willingness to be vulnerable and share intimate as well as entertaining aspects of his life.  

Toward the end of the memoir, and certainly after scores of romantic and otherwise erotic adventures, MM meets a woman who inspires him in new and different ways, and with whom he wanted a longer commitment.  He shares how that happened, as well as what it meant to him to become a father and a family man.  Great stuff for one who had taken advantage of the opportunity to milk all that life could offer a good looking, healthy, famous, and adventurous single man. 

In the print copy, many of his words-of-wisdom, insights and bumper stickers are photos of his own notes in his own handwriting from his diaries.  I loved how he concluded Greenlights with a note he says he found  “in a pile of my journal-buck-slip-napkin-beer coaster notes and scribbles.  I’d never seen it since I’d written it…two days after finishing my first ever acting role as “Wooderson” in Dazed and Confused. Fourteen days after my dad moved on.” 

Talk about “Write it Down, Make it Happen!”  This is an amazing case of life following his intention: 

Loved this book – will listen to it again – lots of fun and wisdom here – a pretty damn good combination!